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Written question asked by Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative) on Thursday, 14 January 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 18 January 2010. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour) on Wednesday, 20 January 2010 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Private Life: Statistics

Question
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what statistics the Office for National Statistics collates on relationship breakdown; and at what geographic level such data is maintained.
Answer

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.Letter from Dennis Roberts, dated January 2010:"The Director General for the Office for National Statistics has been asked to reply to your request asking what statistics the Office for National Statistics collates on relationship breakdown; and at what geographic level such data is maintained. I am replying in his absence. (312049)""Relationship breakdown may either occur through divorce or separation, where the latter can apply to either married or cohabiting partnerships. Although statistics are available for divorces in the UK, figures on separation are not. This is because nationally representative statistical information on separations would be difficult to collect routinely in any administrative or survey source.""Divorce statistics are published annually by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) based upon information supplied to ONS by the courts in England and Wales. The fact that a divorce has taken place in a court in a particular region does not mean ""that either one or both parties are resident there. Therefore, divorce statistics have been historically presented at a national level only for England and Wales.""Divorce statistics for Scotland are published by the General Register Office for Scotland, and divorce statistics for Northern Ireland are published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. A summary of divorce statistics for the constituent countries of the UK is available in the latest edition of Population Trends (Population Trends 138 - Winter 2009, Table 2.1: Vital statistics summary, pp.67-68), available at:""http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Pop-trends-winter09.pdf"

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
504 c398-9W; 312049
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Divorce Private life Statistics Separation
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk