Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 21 November 2023 (HL36), whether they will publish data on an annualised basis on what proportion of deaths where COVID-19 is mentioned on the death certificate have been (1) male, and (2) female, for the period in which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Rt Hon. the Earl Howe GBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
13 January 2025
Dear Earl Howe,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 21 November 2023 (HL36), whether data on an annualised basis on what proportion of deaths where COVID-19 is mentioned on the death certificate have been (1) male, and (2) female, for the period in which data are available, will be published (HL3740).
The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration, which is a legal requirement. This data enables the ONS to produce detailed statistics on deaths that are registered in England and Wales. In October 2024, the ONS published annual statistics for deaths registered in 2023[1]. Deaths where COVID-19 was the underlying cause by year are published in our Deaths registered in England and Wales dataset[2]. Table 1 also provides the data you have requested.
Table 1: Deaths registered where COVID-19 was the underlying cause, England and Wales, all ages excluding under 1, 2020 to 2023.
Year of registration | Sex | Number of deaths |
2023 | Male | 6,450 |
2023 | Female | 5,387 |
2022 | Male | 12,219 |
2022 | Female | 10,226 |
2021 | Male | 36,792 |
2021 | Female | 30,556 |
2020 | Male | 40,995 |
2020 | Female | 32,771 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many age-standardised excess deaths there have been in England and Wales for each year in which data are available in the last decade.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Rt Hon. the Earl Howe GBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
13 January 2025
Dear Earl Howe,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many excess deaths over the state pension age there have been in England and Wales for each year in which data are available in the last decade (HL3738); and how many age-standardised excess deaths there have been in England and Wales for each year in which data are available in the last decade (HL3739).
In February 2024, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published new estimates of excess deaths in the UK using a new method[1]. Estimates of excess deaths in the UK for those aged 65 and over for the last decade can be found in Table 1. State pension age varies by sex and changes over time, so we have presented figures for the 65 and over age group which most closely aligns with those at state pension age or above. Please also note that estimates from our model are only possible at a UK level when they are broken down by age.
Our new methodology for estimating excess deaths uses a statistical model to estimate the expected number of deaths. The model accounts for changes in population size, age structure, and trends in mortality over time. The estimates shown in Table 1 therefore account for changes in age structure. Further breakdowns providing excess deaths by age group are available in our Estimating excess deaths in the UK, methodology changes dataset[2].
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Annual estimates of expected and excess deaths, aged 65 and over, UK: 2011 to 2023.
Year | Deaths | Expected deaths | Excess deaths |
2011 | 456,325 | 465,039 | -8,714 |
2012 | 476,380 | 465,439 | 10,941 |
2013 | 483,793 | 464,395 | 19,398 |
2014 | 478,365 | 480,138 | -1,773 |
2015 | 509,320 | 483,194 | 26,126 |
2016 | 502,024 | 505,470 | -3,446 |
2017 | 512,972 | 509,638 | 3,334 |
2018 | 519,410 | 519,379 | 31 |
2019 | 509,129 | 541,019 | -31,890 |
2020 | 583,671 | 515,763 | 67,908 |
2021 | 557,006 | 515,535 | 41,471 |
2022 | 553,884 | 513,315 | 40,569 |
2023 | 556,678 | 544,447 | 12,231 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many excess deaths over the state pension age there have been in England and Wales for each year in which data are available in the last decade.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Rt Hon. the Earl Howe GBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
13 January 2025
Dear Earl Howe,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many excess deaths over the state pension age there have been in England and Wales for each year in which data are available in the last decade (HL3738); and how many age-standardised excess deaths there have been in England and Wales for each year in which data are available in the last decade (HL3739).
In February 2024, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published new estimates of excess deaths in the UK using a new method[1]. Estimates of excess deaths in the UK for those aged 65 and over for the last decade can be found in Table 1. State pension age varies by sex and changes over time, so we have presented figures for the 65 and over age group which most closely aligns with those at state pension age or above. Please also note that estimates from our model are only possible at a UK level when they are broken down by age.
Our new methodology for estimating excess deaths uses a statistical model to estimate the expected number of deaths. The model accounts for changes in population size, age structure, and trends in mortality over time. The estimates shown in Table 1 therefore account for changes in age structure. Further breakdowns providing excess deaths by age group are available in our Estimating excess deaths in the UK, methodology changes dataset[2].
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Annual estimates of expected and excess deaths, aged 65 and over, UK: 2011 to 2023.
Year | Deaths | Expected deaths | Excess deaths |
2011 | 456,325 | 465,039 | -8,714 |
2012 | 476,380 | 465,439 | 10,941 |
2013 | 483,793 | 464,395 | 19,398 |
2014 | 478,365 | 480,138 | -1,773 |
2015 | 509,320 | 483,194 | 26,126 |
2016 | 502,024 | 505,470 | -3,446 |
2017 | 512,972 | 509,638 | 3,334 |
2018 | 519,410 | 519,379 | 31 |
2019 | 509,129 | 541,019 | -31,890 |
2020 | 583,671 | 515,763 | 67,908 |
2021 | 557,006 | 515,535 | 41,471 |
2022 | 553,884 | 513,315 | 40,569 |
2023 | 556,678 | 544,447 | 12,231 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the recommendations in the Infected Blood Inquiry report, what assessment they have made of the safety and efficacy of modern plasma-derived therapies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is considering Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations, including recommendation 9 that relates to the use of alternatives to plasma-derived medicines. We will provide an update to Parliament on the progress we are making by the end of the year, as the Inquiry recommends.
In April 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reviewed the latest scientific evidence available on the safety of donor plasma from the United Kingdom and was able to lift the ban on its use for immunoglobulin-based medicines; the ban had been in place since the mid-1990s due to concerns about over the potential spread of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) disease. This was followed by a review of and lifting of the ban on albumins, also derived from UK donor plasma.
Both immunoglobulin and albumin are critical medicines for the National Health Service, with approximately 17,000 patients in England relying on immunoglobulins each year but these products are in short supply globally. Following the MHRA view that UK plasma is safe, the Department set up the Plasma for Medicines programme to increase our self-sufficiency and to protect vulnerable patients from the risk of global supply shocks. The first UK donor plasma was shipped for manufacture into medicines in August 2024 and these will be available to NHS patients from January 2025.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to implement recommendation 9(e) of the Infected Blood Inquiry report while maintaining consistency with existing NHS England commissioning guidelines, continuing to improve standards of care and quality of life, and promoting confidence in the safety and efficacy of all licensed medicines for people with rare bleeding disorders.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I recognise that the findings of the inquiry’s final report are deeply shocking, and the Government is committed to acting on the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
The Government is considering Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations, and will provide an update to Parliament on the progress we are making to respond to the inquiry’s recommendations by the end of the year, as the inquiry recommends.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they interpret the phrase "where clinically appropriate" in recommendation 9(e) of the Infected Blood Inquiry report, and how this will preserve patient choice and clinical judgement based on the latest clinical evidence.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I recognise that the findings of the inquiry’s final report are deeply shocking, and the Government is committed to acting on the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
The Government is considering Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations, and will provide an update to Parliament on the progress we are making to respond to the inquiry’s recommendations by the end of the year, as the inquiry recommends.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of the recommendations in the Infected Blood Inquiry report for the MHRA as regulator of medicines in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I recognise that the findings of the inquiry’s final report are deeply shocking, and the Government is committed to acting on the findings of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
The Government is considering Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations, and will provide an update to Parliament on the progress we are making to respond to the inquiry’s recommendations by the end of the year, as the inquiry recommends.