§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many questions were tabled for reply by his Department in each Session since 1979–80; in how many instances in each year the reply has been that providing the information involved disproportionate cost; and in how many instances in each year questions have been given the reply that the information was not available centrally. [16790]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightThe table gives the number of written and oral questions answered by Treasury Ministers since 1982–83. Figures for earlier years are not available.
Session Written Oral 1982–83 1,343 283 1983–84 2,743 591 1984–85 2,225 498 1985–86 1,680 381 1986–87 1,340 157 1987–88 3,244 464 1988–89 2,694 330 1989–90 2,145 338 1990–91 1,465 251 1991–92 859 148 1992–93 2,857 402 1993–94 1,742 217 1994–95 2,031 246 1995–96 1,621 251 1996–971 1,048 120 1 To 25 February.
Table 1: Number of deaths which occurred in England and Wales Weeks ending 3rd January 10th January 17th January 24th January 31st January January average 1992 13,848 13,846 12,985 12,301 12,668 13,130 1993 15,568 13,545 12,510 11,740 11,481 12,969 1994 13,495 13,256 12,497 12,239 11,662 12,630 1995 12,894 13,025 12,483 12,267 12,296 12,593 19961 15,879 14,964 13,204 12,109 12,243 13,680 19971 16,612 17,255 15,699 13,774 12,012 15,070 1 Death occurrences for 1996 and 1997 are provisional. Figures for 1997 are the latest available. They will be incomplete owing to some January deaths waiting to be registered and added to the ONS database. You also asked a related question on three-weekly numbers of deaths. The highest numbers of three-weekly death occurrences in England and Wales for each of the past five years are provided in Table 2 on the following page. Table 1 above shows the average weekly deaths for each January in England and Wales.
Table 2: Highest figures of three-weekly deaths in England and Wales Figure 1992 38,787 1993 40,926 1994 37,992 1995 44,235 19961 42,831 1 Death occurrences for 1996 are provisional. I hope this reply has been helpful.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the five most recent occasions prior to 10 January when the weekly death rate recorded in England and Wales exceeded 19,000. [16906]
§ Mrs. Knight[holding answer 20 February 1997]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
304WThe analyses sought of questions not answered substantively are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.