To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) Down’s syndrome birth rate and (b) birth defect rate was for each electoral ward in Shropshire, in each year from 2000 to 2005. (82401)

I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 6 July 2006:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) Down’s Syndrome birth rate and (b) birth defect rate was for each electoral ward in Shropshire in each year from 2000 to 2005. (82401)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for maintaining the National Congenital Anomaly System (NCAS) notifications in England and Wales. These notifications are collected only for live and stillbirths (e.g. terminations are excluded) and are provided by NHS Trusts on a voluntary basis either directly to ONS on form SD56 or via local congenital anomaly registers that exchange data with ONS. Information on congenital anomalies is routinely published for strategic health authorities. Figures cannot be provided by electoral ward because of the risk of disclosing individual’s information due to very small number of events.

Notifications of congenital anomalies, numbers and rates, in Shropshire County from 2000 to 2004 (the most recent year for which figures are available) are given in the table below.