§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will break down the excess winter deaths for each of the last three years by socio-economic class, indicating(a) all ages, (b) those aged 60 to 70 years and (c) those aged 70 years and over. [75450]
§ Mr. McLeishThere is no universally accepted definition of "excess winter deaths". The information presented in the table is based on a formula that has been used in recent years by the Office for National Statistics when presenting data for England and Wales. This defines excess winter deaths as the difference between the number of deaths during the four months December to March and the average number of deaths during the preceding four months (August to November) and the following four months (April to July). As this is a crude measure of the increase in mortality associated with winter conditions the numbers of excess deaths have been rounded to the nearest ten.
421WThe socio-economic breakdown used, social class based on occupation, is derived from information about the deceased's occupation and employment status (or, when appropriate, that of their parents and spouse) as stated at death registration. It is known that such information is
1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Social class based on occupation All ages 60–69 70 and over All ages 60–69 70 and over All ages 60–69 70 and over I Professional 60 30 30 60 -10 60 40 30 20 II Managerial and technical 260 -30 260 570 50 470 470 50 380 IIInm Skilled—manual 170 10 150 490 40 410 310 10 280 IIIm Skilled—non-manual 540 140 370 680 80 630 640 130 470 IV Partly skilled 280 10 230 550 70 500 460 70 370 V Unskilled 220 30 200 330 30 300 350 80 250 830 20 790 1,410 170 1,100 1,710 160 1,470 Not Known Total 2,360 210 2,020 4,090 420 3,460 3,980 520 3,250