§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what have been the excess winter mortality rates in(a) Lancashire, (b) Cornwall, (c) Tyneside and (d) Suffolk for each of the last 10 years in terms of (i) excess numbers and (ii) percentages for (1) those aged 65 to 80 years, (2) those aged over 80 years, (3) single parent families, (4) people in receipt of income support, (5) people with disabilities and (6) others. [14259]
§ Mrs. LiddellI have been asked to reply.
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.
Letter from John Fox to Mr. Nigel Evans, dated 7 November 1997:
The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to answer your recent question on excess winter deaths in Lancashire, Cornwall, Tyneside and Suffolk for each of the last 10 years. In his absence, I am replying as the Director of the Census, Population and Health Group.The estimated numbers of excess deaths in each county during the last ten winters, based on the latest available data, are presented in the following table. The percentage of excess winter deaths among those aged 65 to 80 years and among those aged over 80 years are also given.382W
Number of excess winter deaths1 Percentage of excess witner deaths All ages 65-80 years Over 80 years Lancashier 1987–88 1,110 49 41 1988–89 720 42 55 1989–90 1,710 43 47 1990–91 1,100 44 53 1991–92 1,050 40 53 1992–93 960 29 56 1993–94 820 26 57 1994–95 810 44 50 1995–96 1,210 38 52 1996–97 1,520 27 60 Cornwall 1987–88 340 46 52 1988–89 160 54 43 1989–90 490 41 54 1990–91 500 39 48 1991–92 450 49 44 1992–93 210 37 49 1993–94 310 17 67 1994–95 320 22 59 1995–96 420 28 67 1996–97 650 25 65 Tyne and Wear 1987–88 840 42 48 1988–89 500 37 52 1989–90 1,020 48 42 1990–91 780 43 40 1991–92 970 44 46 1992–93 440 43 46 1993–94 680 45 42 1994–95 580 39 47 1995–96 820 43 48 1996–97 990 44 51 Suffolk 1987–88 370 34 58 1988–89 450 47 49 1989–90 550 29 57 1990–91 590 44 48 1991–92 400 36 62 1992–93 350 32 66 1993–94 320 42 57 1994–95 490 36 54 1995–96 560 28 67 1996–97 760 31 64 1rounded to the nearest 10. Excess winter deaths are defined as the number of deaths in the four months from December to March less the average of the numbers during the preceding autumn (August to November) and the following summer (April to July). The table gives the percentage of the excess attributable to each of the given age groups.The mortality data collected by the ONS do not include information on whether the deceased was a single parent, in receipt of income support or disabled. It is therefore not possible to calculate the percentage of excess winter deaths among these groups.