The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 9 May 2008:"As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the mortality rate was for lung cancer on Merseyside in the last year for which figures are available. (201618)""The age-standardised mortality rate¹ for Merseyside metropolitan county², where lung cancer was the underlying cause of death³, was 57 per 100,000 population in 20064 (the latest year available).""¹ Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the European Standard Population.""Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages.""² Based on boundaries as of 2008.""³ Cause of death for lung cancer was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes C33-C34.""4 Figures are for deaths registered 2006."