Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) reasons for and (b) implications for his policies of the recent decline in the annual birth rate.

In their ‘Births in England and Wales: 2019’ report, the Office for National Statistics suggests that possible reasons for decreases in both the annual birth rate and the annual total fertility rate in recent years include improved access to contraception; the reduction in mortality rates of children aged under five years old, resulting in women having fewer babies; and lower levels of fertility or difficulties conceiving because of postponement in childbearing.

The Government’s overarching policy is that all women should receive safe, personalised care. Local Maternity Systems bring together providers, commissioners, women and their families to work in partnership to ensure services reflect the needs of their local populations.