§ Mr. Gerald HowarthTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many teenage suicides there were in(a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999; and what percentage of teenage suicides occurred in homes at a time when (i) one parent and (ii) both parents were present. [120663]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Gerald Howarth, dated 3 May 2000:
The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question on teenage suicides in (a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999; and the percentage of teenage suicides occurring in homes at a time when (i) one parent and (ii) both parents were present. I am replying in the Director's absence.Figures for the number of suicides for 1970, 1980 and 1998, the latest year for which figures are currently available, are given in the attached table.For adult deaths our usual practice is to define suicides as including both suicides and deaths from injury and poisoning undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted. It is likely that most undetermined deaths (open verdicts) among adults are cases where the harm was self-inflicted but there was insufficient evidence to prove that the deceased deliberately intended to commit suicide. This is not necessarily the case for children and the categories are therefore separately presented here.Information is routinely collected on the place of death, but not on the place of occurrence of the suicide attempt. In many cases where the initial attempt was at home, the patient would ultimately die in hospital. Any statistics on suicide deaths at home would therefore understate the real level. Information on persons present at a death is not routinely recorded.
Suicide and undetermined injury deaths for teenagers (ages 13 to 19), England and Wales 1970 1980 1998 Suicide and self inflicted injury1 Injury undetermined whether 79 126 110 accidentally or purposely inflicted2 31 62 81 1 International Classification of Diseases, Eighth and Ninth Revisions, codes E950-E959 2 International Classification of Diseases, Eighth Revision (1970), codes E980-E989, Ninth Revision (1980 and 1998), codes E980-E989 excluding E988.8