The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Dear Baroness Kennedy,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people have died from mesothelioma in each year from 2010 to the last year for which figures are available (HL16256).

The Office for National Statistics is responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent figures published are for deaths registered in 2017[1].

Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10 edition (ICD-10). The underlying cause of death is defined by the World Health Organisation as (a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, (b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury.

Deaths due to an underlying cause of mesothelioma would be assigned the ICD-10 code C45.

Table 1 below provides the numbers of deaths from mesothelioma registered in England and Wales between 2010 and 2017.

Yours sincerely,

John Pullinger

Table 1: Number of deaths with an underlying cause of mesothelioma, persons, England and Wales, 2010 to 2017[2]^,[3],[4],[5]

Source: Office for National Statistics

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsregisteredinenglandandwalesseriesdrreferencetables

[2]Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition (ICD-10) code C45.

[3]Deaths under 28 days are excluded.

[4]Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents.

[5]Figures are for deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in each calendar year.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published a Screening for Cartels tool that will help public procurement professionals identify suspicious behaviour by suppliers when bidding for contracts:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/screening-for-cartels-tool-for-procurers

The CMA has also produced other guidance on bid-rigging to help procurers, including an e-learning module that gives pointers on what to look out for:

https://builtintelligence.com/pages/learn-how-to-spot-bid-rigging

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

That is a request the noble Lord was not in a position to refuse. The Government allocated £7.5 million to promote registration prior to the EU referendum, and a record 46.5 million people are now registered to vote. Online registration has made it easier and faster to make an application to register, with 75% of the 23 million applications made since the introduction of individual electoral registration using this method. The Government aim to further streamline the annual registration canvass and to work closely with the electoral community and civil society organisations to remove barriers that deter underregistered groups from joining the register.

The Government has recently legislated for the publication of tax strategy by the largest businesses; promoting board accountability for tax, and encouraging transparency on approach to tax planning. In this context, the Government welcomes all business moves to improve transparency over their own tax affairs.

The allocation of Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding was agreed at the 2015 Spending Review in line with the strategic objectives set out in the UK aid strategy. Departments spending ODA are required to demonstrate how they are using rigorous evidence to underpin spending decisions. There must be clear lines of accountability for all ODA projects, and project performance must be regularly assessed. Poor performing programmes will be closed and funds redeployed. In addition, all ODA spend is subject to scrutiny by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact.

Spending on ODA is also subject to the principles of sound financial management set out in ‘Managing Public Money’. Within these constraints departments have discretion over how they organise, direct and manage the resources at their disposal.

The estimated proportion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to be spent by Departments other than the Department for International Development based on the Spending Review 2015 settlement is 18% in 2016/17. The other departments spending ODA (including allocations from cross-Government funds) are: the Department of Health; the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy; the Foreign & Commonwealth Office; the Department for Energy, Food & Rural Affairs; HM Revenue & Customs; HM Treasury; the Office of National Statistics; the Department for Education; the Department for Work and Pensions; Department for Culture, Media & Sport; the Ministry of Defence; the Department for Transport; and the Home Office.

Outturn figures are not yet available, but a detailed breakdown of the 2016 ODA spend by department will be published in April 2017.