§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of people reported a longstanding illness or disability(a) in England, (b) in each region and (c) broken down by socio-economic group in each year since 1990. [146339]
§ Ruth KellyI have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Burstow dated 12 January 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the prevalence of people reporting a longstanding illness or disability in England, each region and each socio-economic group since 1990. I am replying in his absence.
The General Household Survey (GHS), carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), publishes the prevalence of longstanding illness, disability or infirmity. The latest available estimates are for the 2001 survey. The tables, which have been placed in the Library, show the prevalence of longstanding illness for:
- (a) England, 1990 to 2001;
- (b) Region—standard region, 1994 to 1996 and Government Office Region, 1998 to 2001; Unfortunately, regional analyses for 1990 to 1993 are not readily available. Prior to 1994, regional analyses would be based on health regions and thus not directly comparable with later years.
- (c) Socio-economic status,
- socio-economic group by individual, 1990 to 1991
- socio-economic group by head of household, 1992 to 1998
- socio-economic group by household reference person. 2000
- National Statistics socio-economic classification by household reference person, 2001.
As with any sample survey, estimates from the GHS are subject to sampling variability.