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Treasury;Office for National Statistics

Answer

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many excess winter deaths there were in each year since 1997 in (a) the UK, (b) each region and (c) each constituency; and if he will make a statement. [200552] Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply. Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Malcolm Bruce, dated 30 November 2004: As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many excess winter deaths there were in each year since 1997 in (a) the UK, (b) each region and (c) each constituency. (200552) Excess winter death figures (the excess number of deaths each winter compared to the average during other months of the year) are not routinely calculated for the United Kingdom. Results for England and Wales from 1997/1998 to 2003/2004 are presented in the attached table. These figures have been published with results for Government Office Regions in England for winters from 1991/ 1992 to 2003/2004. This report, "Excess Winter Mortality--By Age Group and Region" can be found on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=7089 Published figures for 2003/2004 are currently provisional and not available for areas smaller than Government Office Regions. I am placing in the House of Commons Library, information on numbers of excess winter deaths by each parliamentary constituency for winters from 1997/1998 to 2002/2003. Excess winter deaths,1 England and Wales,2 1997-98 to 2003-04 3 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Excess winter deaths1,4 1997-98 22,900 1998-99 46,840 1999-2000 48,440 2000-01 24,840 2001-02 27,230 2002-03 23,970 2003-043 23,500 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Excess winter deaths are defined by the Office for National Statistics as the difference between the number of deaths during the four winter months (December to March) and the average number of deaths during the four preceding months (August to November) and the following four months (April to July). 2 Including non-residents. 3 Figures for 2003-04 are provisional. 4 Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

200552; 428 c103W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Death Weather

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk