Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the weekly totals of covid-19-related deaths in the UK (a) have been and (b) will be published, by (i) age range and (ii) specified serious underlying condition. [112060]
[Due for Answer on 11 November.]
ANSWER
The Minister of State for the Constitution and Devolution (Chloe Smith): The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
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NB: FOOTNOTE [1] APPEARS TO CONTAIN THE MOST IMPORTANT DATA
LETTER FROM PROFESSOR SIR IAN DIAMOND, NATIONAL STATISTICIAN, 9 NOVEMBER 2020
Dear Dr Lewis,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking whether the weekly totals of COVID-19-related deaths in the UK (a) have been and (b) will be published, by (i) age range and (ii) specified serious underlying condition (112060).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes a weekly report[1] on provisional deaths in England and Wales. The accompanying reference tables also includes death registrations involving COVID19 for the UK by sex and age group. We will continue to update this data on a weekly basis. The ONS has published a monthly report[2] on deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales which includes analysis on pre-existing health conditions. We are currently in discussion about updating the analysis of pre-existing health conditions.
ONS mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. The information used to produce these statistics are based on details collected when certified deaths are registered by informants with their local registration service. In England and Wales, deaths should ideally be registered within five days of the death occurring, but there are some situations that result in the registration of the death being delayed[3].
National Records for Scotland[4] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency[5] are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest