To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate his Department has made of the number of women who were made redundant after becoming pregnant in each of the last five years for which figures are available. (138201)

The Labour Force Survey estimates that 191,000 women were made redundant in the UK in 2006; this is around 1.6 per cent. of all female employees. For the previous four years, the total numbers of female employees made redundant are as follows:

However, the Labour Force Survey does not identify which of these women were made redundant after becoming pregnant, nor are reliable estimates available from other sources.