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Suez Medal

Bob Russell: To ask the Prime Minister [pursuant to his answer of 11 June, Official Report, column 869W], on the Suez Medal, when he expects the General Service Medal will be presented; what the arrangements are for applications to be made for the medal; and what arrangements have been made for a presentation ceremony. [119874]

The Prime Minister: The next step is for the eligibility criteria to be approved by HM The Queen and for the medal to be minted. I hope that this can be done shortly.

Once the qualifying criteria have been agreed, the Ministry of Defence will make an announcement setting out the arrangements for applying for and receiving the medal.

TREASURY

Accounting Officers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions since 13 January he has been informed of a minister issuing a direction to an accounting officer as set out in paragraphs 14 to 17 of the Treasury document, The Responsibilities of an Accounting Officer; on which grounds the note of dissent was issued; and if he will make a statement. [119533]

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John Healey: The Treasury has been informed of one direction issued under the procedures set out in paragraphs 14 to 17 of the Treasury document "The Responsibilities of an Accounting Officer", since the reply given by my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 13 January 2003, Official Report, column 413W. The direction was issued by the Department of Trade and Industry on value for money grounds, in respect of Regional Selective Assistance.

Births (Congenital Anomalies)

Ms Drown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many notifications there were of babies born with congenital anomalies in England and Wales in 2002; how many had (a) central nervous system anomalies, (b) cleft lip and/or palate, (c) anomalies of the heart and circulatory system, (d) anomalies of the alimentary system, (e) anomalies of the genital organ, (f) anomalies of the urinary system, (g) anomalies of the musculoskeletal system including limb reductions,

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(h) Down syndrome and (i) other chromosomal anomalies; and if he will make a statement about trends over the past 10 years. [120164]

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Julia Drown, dated 23 June 2003:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the number of notifications of babies born with congenital anomalies in England and Wales in 2002 and the trends over the past 10 years. (120164)

The latest available figures are for 2001.

The attached table shows the numbers and notification rates for babies born in England and Wales with selected conditions from 1992 to 2001 inclusive. Prior to 1995, notification of babies to the National Congenital Anomaly System (NCAS) was confined to 10 days from birth. The removal of this restriction resulted in an increase in the notifications of all congenital anomalies in 1995. Reporting to the NCAS is voluntary and since 1998 regions with local registers have exchanged information with the NCAS, leading to more complete notification. This has resulted in a large increase in notification rates for several types of anomalies since 1998.

Number of babies born in England and Wales with selected conditions and rates per 10,000 total live and stillbirths, 1992–2001

	1992		1993		1994		1995		1996
	No.	Rate	No.	Rate	No.	Rate	No.	Rate	No.	Rate
All babies with congenital anomalies notified	6,096	88.0	5,750	84.9	5,610	84.0	5,847	89.8	5,987	91.7
Central nervous system(35)	316	4.6	273	4.0	264	4.0	257	3.9	254	3.9
Cleft lip and/or palate(36)	731	10.6	657	9.7	629	9.4	592	9.1	588	9.0
Anomalies of the heart and circulatory system(37)	446	6.4	432	6.4	447	6.7	602	9.2	680	10.4
Anomalies of the alimentary system (excluding cleft lip and/or palate)(38)	271	3.9	275	4.1	221	3.3	290	4.5	270	4.1
Anomalies of the genital organ(39)	663	9.6	661	9.8	649	9.7	616	9.5	681	10.4
Anomalies of the urinary system(40)	362	5.2	371	5.5	348	5.2	407	6.2	406	6.2
Anomalies of the musculoskeletal system including limb reductions(41)	2,524	36.5	2,428	35.9	2,320	34.7	2,275	34.9	2,173	33.3
Down syndrome(42)	394	5.7	311	4.6	317	4.7	320	4.9	359	5.5
Other chromosomal anomalies(43)	120	1.7	113	1.7	111	1.7	120	1.8	145	2.2

		1997			1998			1999			2000			2001
	No.	Rate	No.	Rate	No.	Rate	No.	Rate	No.	Rate
All babies with congenital anomalies notified	5,951	92.1	6,254	97.9	7,471	119.6	7,979	131.4	7,271	121.7
Central nervous system(35)	223	3.5	287	4.5	301	4.8	386	6.4	345	5.8
Cleft lip and/or palate(36)	581	9.0	594	9.3	585	9.4	596	9.8	560	9.4
Anomalies of the heart and circulatory system(37)	653	10.1	861	13.5	983	15.7	1,360	22.4	1,128	18.9
Anomalies of the alimentary system (excluding cleft lip and/or palate)(38)	255	3.9	293	4.6	374	6.0	457	7.5	342	5.7
Anomalies of the genital organ(39)	651	10.1	670	10.5	751	12.0	831	13.7	737	12.3
Anomalies of the urinary system(40)	504	7.8	542	8.5	639	10.2	788	13.0	706	11.8
Anomalies of the musculoskeletal system including limb reductions(41)	2,176	33.7	2,219	34.7	2,610	41.8	2,554	42.1	2,408	40.3
Down syndrome(42)	417	6.5	458	7.2	427	6.8	414	6.8	378	6.3
Other chromosomal anomalies(43)	133	2.1	156	2.4	203	3.2	233	3.8	213	3.6

⁽³⁵⁾ Central nervous system was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 320 to 359 and 740 to 742, for the years 1992 to 1994 and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes GO4.0, G12.0, G12.9, G40.9, G60.0, G62.9, G70.9, G71.1, G71.2, G80.9, G83.2, G93.0, G93.1 and Q00 TO Q07, for the years 1995 to 2001.

⁽³⁶⁾ Cleft lip and/or palate was defined using ICD-9 codes 7490 to 7492 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes Q35 to Q37 for the years 1995 to 2001.

⁽³⁷⁾ Anomalies of the heart and circulatory system was defined using ICD-9 codes 390 to 459 and 745–747 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes 145.6, 147.1, 149.1, M30.3 and Q20 to Q28 for the years 1995 to 2001.

⁽³⁸⁾ Anomalies of the alimentary system was defined using ICD-9 codes 7503, 7512, 530–539 (except 550 to 553), 7504, 7505, 7507 to 7511 and 7513 to 7519 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes K74.0, K80.2, Q38 to Q45 and R14 for the years 1995 to 2001.

⁽³⁹⁾ Anomalies of the genital organ was defined using ICD-9 codes 7526, 7525, 7528, 7786, 7520 to 7524, 7527 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes N47, N89.8 and Q50-Q56 for the years 1995 to 2001. Prior to 1995, using ICD-9 hypospadias and epispadias were coded as 7526. Following implementation of ICD-10, hypospadias and epispadias were coded separately as Q54 and Q64.0 and grouped into anomalies of the genital organ and anomalies of the urinary system, respectively. In this table hypospadias and epispadias are included in the anomalies for genital organ to allow for trend analysis over the past 10 years.

⁽⁴⁰⁾ Anomalies of the urinary system was defined using ICD-9 codes 580 to 608, 614 to 629, 7529, 7530, 7531, 7532, 7533, 7534, 7535 and 7536 to 7539 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes N13.9, N25.8 and Q60 to Q64 for the years 1995 to 2001.

⁽⁴¹⁾ Anomalies of the musculoskeletal system including limb reductions was defined using ICD-9 codes 7550, 7551, 7552 to 7554, 7545 to 7547, 7543, 7544, 7555, 7556, 7558, 7559,7506, 7566, 524 (excluding 5243), 526, 7445, 7448, 7449, 7480, 7481, 7540, 7560, 754.1, 7542, 7561 to 7563, 7564, 7565, 710 to 739, 7548, 7568, 7569, 5509, 5530 to 5532, 5538, 5539, 7567,527 to 529, 7444, 7500 to 7502 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes K40 to K46, M21.2, M89.8, P94, and Q65 to Q79 for the years 1995 to 2001.

⁽⁴²⁾ Down syndrome was defined using ICD-9 code 7580 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 code Q90 for the years 1995 to 2001.

⁽⁴³⁾ Other chromosomal anomalies was defined using ICD-9 codes 0 to 139, 290 to 319, 630 to 676 and 759 for the years 1992 and 1994 ICD-10 codes Q91 to Q99 for the years 1995 to 2001.

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