§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what was the number and rate per 1,000 of each category of single payments in the years 1978 to 1985 inclusive;
(2) what was the number and rate per 1,000 of the population of people on supplementary pension (a) nationally, (b) in each social security region and (c) in each standard economic planning region for each year from 1979 to the latest available date;
(3) what was the number and rate per 1,000 of the population of people on supplementary benefit (a) nationally, (b) in each social security region and (c) in each standard economic planning region for each year from 1979 to the latest available date;
(4) what was the number and rate per 1,000 claimants of people who received single payments (a) nationally, (b) in each social security region and (c) in each standard
Hypothermia deaths: number of mentions, England and Wales and Standard Region of usual residence—1979–1984 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 England and Wales* 862 596 686 664 539 554 Wales 50 34 40 47 24 25 North 73 41 67 57 53 65 Yorkshire and Humberside 146 111 97 103 63 66 East Midlands 74 53 56 48 39 55 East Anglia 94 54 74 76 61 51 South East 52 34 44 33 27 25 South West 240 182 187 200 198 185 West Midlands 60 46 64 47 45 44 North West 73 41 57 53 29 37 * Figure may not cast because of deaths of residents from outside England and Wales.
§ Mr Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why more people died of hypothermia in the first six months of the current year than in the whole of the previous year.
§ Mr WhitneyThe OPCS records kept on this since 1971 show that the largest number of deaths occurs in the March quarter each year, and in the first quarter of 1985 there were of course two periods of exceptionally cold weather. I have, however, asked officials to analyse recent statistics on deaths where hypothermia was shown as a contributory cause of death, and to let me have a report.