Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Royal National Institute of Blind People Turned Out 2019, published on 13 October; and what steps they are taking to address the findings of that report.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the electoral process for voters with sight loss and other disabilities, and is already in the process of taking forward some of the recommendations made in the report while considering other measures.
The Government is looking at trialling ways to provide blind and partially sighted voters with electoral information in more accessible formats and is working with electoral partners, including the Electoral Commission, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and the Association of Electoral Administrators to ensure the support available to voters with disabilities is effectively publicised.
We will continue working with the Royal National Institute of Blind People to improve processes and will review what additional support might be provided to help voters with sight loss to vote by post.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they have in place to ensure that, following the merger of the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, there is designated ministerial representation at the National Security Council specifically to deal with international development matters and to speak for them.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
Membership of Cabinet Committees is decided by the Prime Minister and is regularly published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish comparative statistics of death rates from diseases including (1) tuberculosis, (2) heart disease, (3) influenza, (4) diabetes, and (5) similar diseases, to contextualise death rates from COVID-19 and improve public understanding.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Dear Lord Judd,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what plans there are to publish comparative statistics on death rates from diseases including (1) tuberculosis, (2) heart disease, (3) influenza, (4) diabetes, and (5) similar diseases, to contextualise death rates from COVID-19 and improve public understanding (HL5854).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. The most recent annual figures published are for deaths registered in 2018[1]. The finalised annual death registrations for 2019 will be presented in the forthcoming Death Registrations[2] publication, due to be published on 1 July 2020.
We also publish provisional data on weekly deaths registrations, which are currently published for deaths registered up to 5 June 2020[3]. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
The ONS has recently published an article that presents additional data on deaths involving COVID-19, for deaths that occurred between 1 March and 30 April (and registered up to 5 May 2020), in England and Wales[4]. This publication provides a breakdown of the 10 leading causes of death during this period, which include ischaemic heart disease, influenza and pneumonia. Figures 3 and 4 in this publication compare the age-standardised mortality rate for the 10 leading causes of death against the 5-year average. Age-standardised rates are used because they provide a better measure of mortality than the number of deaths, as they account for the population size and age structure. They are also better for comparing between areas and over time.
Table 1[5] reports the number of deaths occurring between 1 March and 30 April 2020, grouped by leading causes, including COVID-19. An extract of the data containing the conditions you have requested is below. Unfortunately, due to the way we analyse the data, we are unable to separate those deaths where the cause of death was registered as influenza or pneumonia. An update of this dataset will be published on 23 June 2020[6].
Our future analysis workplan includes further investigation of deaths involving COVID-19 and those from other causes.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Number of deaths by select causes, England and Wales, deaths occurring between March and April 2020[7],[8],[9]
|
| England and Wales | England | Wales | |||
ICD-10 codes | Cause of death groups | March | April | March | April | March | April |
U07.1-U07.2 | Coronavirus | 4,379 | 27,764 | 4,208 | 26,396 | 158 | 1,326 |
A15–A19, B90 | Tuberculosis | 13 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
E10–E14 | Diabetes | 655 | 851 | 616 | 809 | 38 | 41 |
I05–I09 | Chronic rheumatic heart diseases | 94 | 69 | 89 | 64 | 5 | 5 |
I10–I15 | Hypertensive diseases | 669 | 714 | 633 | 675 | 34 | 39 |
I20–I25 | Ischaemic heart diseases | 4,624 | 4,053 | 4,307 | 3,815 | 311 | 236 |
I26–I28 | Pulmonary heart disease and diseases of pulmonary circulation | 219 | 225 | 205 | 208 | 13 | 17 |
J09–J18 | Influenza and pneumonia | 2,554 | 1,806 | 2,386 | 1,698 | 163 | 106 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
[2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/deathsregisteredinenglandandwales2019
[6]https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/deathsinvolvingcovid19englandandwalesmay2020
[7]England and Wales includes deaths of non-residents. England and Wales separately excludes deaths of non-residents.
[8]Based on the data a death occurred rather than when a death was registered.
[9]Based on the bounderies as of February 2020.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that relevant sectors of civil society, including non-governmental organisations, are able to contribute to the forthcoming Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The review will engage and collaborate with a range of external stakeholders to ensure proper challenge and scrutiny. We will listen and learn from different voices across society, from the public, academics to international partners. Good practice from previous reviews and strategies will be explored when formulating the right approach.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that officials from the Department for International Development are able to contribute to the forthcoming Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The review will involve officials from a wide range of Government departments including the Department for International Development. The review will reassess the nation’s place in the world, covering all aspects of international policy from defence to diplomacy and development.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they have in place to monitor nuclear, biological and chemical weapons risks, and to advance the reduction of such risks.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Government assesses the most significant risks facing the UK over the next five years, including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons risks, through the National Risk Assessment (NRA) and the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA).
In order to assess these risks, Government works with the intelligence community to gather information about the intent and capability of potential adversaries, the types of materials of concern and information about potential targets. The risk assessment processes provide Government department and agencies with the information required for them to take action to address these risks. The 2017 National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies, the public version of the NRA, is attached to this answer and a copy has also been placed in the House of Lords Library.
A summary of the NSRA was published in the 2015 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review, available online here, which helped to guide the government’s wider national security efforts. The sections on proliferation risk were also included in the National Counter-Proliferation strategy which can be found here.
The Government’s risk assessment is complemented by wider work under the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy (CONTEST). CONTEST provides a Cross-Government approach, led by the Home Office, aimed at reducing the risk to the UK and its citizens and interests overseas from terrorism, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence.
The use of nuclear, biological and chemical materials in an attack by terrorists remains significantly less likely than an attack with conventional weapons. Government prioritises efforts to stop terrorists gaining access to the technical expertise and specialist materials they would need, and to reduce the vulnerability of people and places to such attacks. Government also ensures the police and other emergency services have the necessary nationwide response capabilities to mitigate the impact of any such attacks.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they are making to ensure that the roles of (1) the intelligence services, and (2) the police, including community policing, are taken fully into account in the Strategic Defence Review.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The government remains focused on implementing the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), which was published in 2015. In July the government announced a review of national security capabilities, in support of SDSR implementation, to ensure that we have a full suite of effective and efficient national security capabilities to achieve our three national security objectives: protecting our people, projecting our global influence and promoting our prosperity. The work is being coordinated by the National Security Adviser, with individual strands taken forward by cross-departmental teams, which has involved a range of Government departments and our law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
Her Majesty's Government, in the light of their commitment to a more outward-looking Global Britain, what steps they are taking to ensure that Government departments refrain from anti-internationalist rhetoric.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
As the Prime Minister said to the UN General Assembly, the United Kingdom has always been an outward-facing, global partner at the heart of international efforts to secure peace and prosperity for all. She also pledged that the UK will be a confident, strong and dependable partner internationally – true to the UN's universal values. Both the rhetoric, but also the policy at the heart of this government's approach, make it clear that our posture must be internationalist as we build a new, deep and special partnership with our European neighbours and seek to strengthen our global role and relations. This sets a clear tone for all Government departments' approach.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that National Security Council objectives are scrutinised by Parliament.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review set out the long term direction to meet the strategic objectives of ensuring domestic security and resilience, and shaping a stable world. The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, comprising members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, scrutinises the National Security Strategy and the structures for government decision-making on national security, particularly the National Security Council (NSC) and the National Security Adviser.
The NSC brings together departments, including DFID, to take collective decisions, balancing the mutually–reinforcing elements of national security including domestic, foreign, development, defence and economic policy. The NSC has introduced, from April 20145, the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund and associated governance reforms. Together these looking systematically at deployed overseas dealing with the risk of instability. links NSC strategic decision making with programmes on the ground.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that National Security Council country strategies are informed by critical analysis and by in-country stakeholders.
Answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review set out the long term direction to meet the strategic objectives of ensuring domestic security and resilience, and shaping a stable world. The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, comprising members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, scrutinises the National Security Strategy and the structures for government decision-making on national security, particularly the National Security Council (NSC) and the National Security Adviser.
The NSC brings together departments, including DFID, to take collective decisions, balancing the mutually–reinforcing elements of national security including domestic, foreign, development, defence and economic policy. The NSC has introduced, from April 20145, the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund and associated governance reforms. Together these looking systematically at deployed overseas dealing with the risk of instability. links NSC strategic decision making with programmes on the ground.