§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many suicides of(a) under 18s and (b) those aged 14 to 18 were recorded in the UK in each year since 1997. [178941]
§ Ruth Kelly[holding answer 15 June 2004]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Phil Willis, dated 21 June 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many suicides of (a) under 18s and (b) those aged 14 to 18 were recorded in the UK in each year since 1997. (178941)
The most recent available data are for the calendar year 2002. Figures for each year from 1997 to 2002 are given in the attached table.
Number of deaths at ages under 18 from intentional self harm1 and injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted2, United Kingdom, 1997 to 20023 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Intentional self harm at ages under 18 (a) All 48 64 55 75 50 64 (b) 14 and over 47 60 52 70 47 59 Injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted4 at ages under 18 (a) All 68 59 56 63 46 49 (b) 14 and over 47 41 40 47 35 36 1 The cause of death for intentional self harm was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, (ICD-9) codes E950–E959 and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60–X84. ICD-JO was introduced in Scotland in 2000 and in Northern Ireland, and England and Wales in 2001.
2 The cause of death for injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E980–E989 for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and E980–E989 excluding E988.8 for England and Wales, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes Y10–Y34 for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Y10–Y34 excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner's verdict was pending for England and Wales.
3 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year for Scotland and Northern Ireland and for deaths occurring in each calendar year for England and Wales.
4 In routine statistics, ONS defines suicides as deaths from suicide and deaths from 'injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted'. Past research has shown that the majority of deaths in which the intent could not be determined (Coroner's open verdicts in England and Wales) in adults are cases where the harm is self-inflicted but there was insufficient evidence to prove 1206W that the deceased deliberately intended to kill themselves. The proportion among children is unknown although it is unlikely that any very young children deliberately intended to kill themselves.