§ Lord Jenkins of Putneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the morbidity/mortality rate per thousand in the 1–4 age group in Wandsworth is 61.3 as against 39.5 in England and Wales and 11.7 in West Lambeth.
§ Baroness HooperThe mortality rate of 61 per thousand in Wandsworth, recently published in a local newspaper article is incorrect. Six children between the ages of one and four died in 1989—a rate of 61 in every 100,000, not every thousand.
The actual number of deaths in this group over the past five years has been:—
Number 1986 3 1987 6 1988 4 1989 6 1990 2 With such small numbers a single tragedy can have a major effect on the annual death rate and it is generally accepted that an average figure taken over a number of years provides a more informative comparison between districts.