The Department of Health (DH) is proposing changes to the way it publishes abortion statistics for England and Wales, and is seeking the views of commissioners, clinicians, academics and other government departments and special interest groups. The consultation is open until 10 June 2013.

The aim of the consultation is to ensure that the abortion statistics remain relevant and useful to users. It covers:

• the usefulness of the annual report
• the engagement of users to derive maximum value from the statistics
• the relevance of the statistics to devolved governments
• whether to present detailed tables by primary care trust, clinical commissioning group or local authority

The responses and outcomes from the consultation will influence how the department presents the statistics for 2012. The 2011 annual abortion statistics report may be useful for comparing potential changes to the 2012 publication.