Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether all public appointments by Ministers since the election have gone through open appointment processes; and whether any rules on advertising appointments have been circumvented.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Governance Code on Public Appointments sets out the process and principles that underpin all public appointments made to bodies listed in the Public Appointments Order in Council. It sets out that, in exceptional cases, Ministers may decide to appoint a candidate without a competition, although they must make this decision public and must consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Ministers across government departments are responsible for ensuring that their appointments are made in accordance with the Governance Code or the appropriate framework.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, given UK internal market requirements, the EU still has any control of trade from Great Britain to Northern Ireland through Regulations 2023/1231 and 2023/1128.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The EU does not have control over the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The operation of the UK internal market system is the responsibility of UK competent authorities.
The Government has guaranteed the smooth flow of these and other goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland through the new UK internal market system, which complements the Windsor Framework and its associated legislation. Taken together, these will protect historic trade flows and reduce burdens and formalities on businesses seeking to trade across the UK, backed by a UK internal market guarantee and independent scrutiny.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Irish sea border has been removed.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
By any sensible comparison with any other trade border in the world, there is no sense of a trade border for goods moving within the UK internal market. The smooth flow of goods within the UK internal market is secured and strengthened through our commitments in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many suicides have been recorded in each region in England and Wales in the last 12 months.
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.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
19 November 2021
Dear Lord McCrea,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question regarding the number of suicides that have been recorded in each region in England and Wales in the last 12 months (HL4142).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes annual suicide death registration statistics for England and Wales as part of our annual statistical release for the UK (1,2). The latest available figures were published by the ONS in September 2021 and covered calendar years up to 2020. The ONS also publish quarterly provisional statistics on suicide death registrations in England (3). The ONS hold death registrations for England and Wales; separate figures for Northern Ireland and Scotland are available from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (4) and the National Records of Scotland (5), respectively.
Table 1 shows the number of suicides and age standardised suicide rates for regions in England, and Wales, based on deaths registered in 2020 and July 2020 to June 2021. The figures that are compiled for July 2020 to June 2021 are provisional and subject to small changes. The risk of suicide cannot be ascertained based on number of deaths due to varying populations for each region. Therefore, we have provided age-standardised suicide rates in table 1 to allow for valid comparisons across regions.
ONS mortality statistics for England and Wales are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. Deaths caused by suicide are investigated by coroners, causing a delay of around five to six months between the date of death and the date of death registration. As such, with the deaths provided in Table 1, many of these will have occurred several months or even years previously. Data for deaths caused by suicide that occurred in 2020 will be available in 2022, when we have more complete death registrations data.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Number (6) of suicides (7) and age standardised suicide rates by English regions and Wales, deaths registered in 2020 and July 2020 to June 2021 (8)
|
| 2020 |
| July 2020 to June 2021p | ||
Area code | Area name | Deaths | Rate per 100,000 |
| Deaths | Rate per 100,000 |
E12000001 | North East | 306 | 13.3 |
| 355 | 15.3 |
E12000002 | North West | 643 | 10.1 |
| 736 | 11.5 |
E12000003 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 550 | 11.5 |
| 602 | 12.7 |
E12000004 | East Midlands | 396 | 9.3 |
| 483 | 11.3 |
E12000005 | West Midlands | 546 | 10.7 |
| 594 | 11.6 |
E12000006 | East | 518 | 9.5 |
| 481 | 8.8 |
E12000007 | London | 543 | 7.0 |
| 546 | 6.9 |
E12000008 | South East | 851 | 10.6 |
| 957 | 11.9 |
E12000009 | South West | 559 | 11.2 |
| 608 | 12.3 |
W92000004 | Wales | 285 | 10.3 |
| 330 | 12.1 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
Box 1: International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes used to define suicide
ICD-10 codes | Description | Notes |
X60-X84 | Intentional self-harm | Persons aged 10 years and above |
|
|
|
Y10-Y34 | Injury/poisoning of undetermined intent | Persons aged 15 years and above |
(2) Due to operational difficulties, suicides registered in 2020 in Northern Ireland and Scotland were unavailable at the time of analysis, and so this year’s annual release is for England and Wales only. ONS will update the UK figures at a later stage.
(4) https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/cause-death/suicide-deaths
(6) Figures are for persons aged 10 years and over.
(7) The National Statistics definition of suicide is given in Box 1.
(8) Figure for July 2020 to June 2021 are provisional and subject to small changes.
(9) The area is based on the persons usual residence as provided by the informant upon registration in England and Wales. Figures for English regions and Wales exclude death of non-residents and are based on the latest available postcode boundaries.
(10) Figures are for deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in each calendar year. Due to the length of time it takes to complete a coroner’s inquest, it can take months or even years for a suicide to be registered. More details can be found in the ‘Suicide Registrations In The UK’ statistical bulletin.
(11) Age-standardised suicide rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population. Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to trigger Article 16 of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Frost
It remains the UK’s preference to find a negotiated outcome to problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Government will use Article 16 as a safeguard measure if a negotiated outcome cannot be found, in order to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and address difficulties caused by the Protocol.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the devolved administrations regarding the removal of COVID-19 restrictions; and what were the outcomes of those discussions.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The UK government has worked closely with the Devolved Administrations throughout the COVID-19 response. While public health is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, our joint statement last September demonstrates our commitment to seek a coordinated approach where the evidence and the science shows this would save lives or make the response more effective, and work together to protect lives and livelihoods across the UK.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be removed.
Answered by Lord Frost
The UK Government has ensured through legislation that there is unfettered access for Northern Ireland businesses to the whole of the UK market. There are therefore no processes in place for goods movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
With regards to the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the Government recognises the extensive burdens imposed by customs and agrifood processes and checks seemingly required to create a zero-risk approach to protecting the single market.
We are considering our next steps and discussing with all those with an interest. We will set out our approach to Parliament in a considered way shortly.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will fully end COVID-19 related restrictions in July.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
On 12 July, the Government confirmed Step 4 will take place on 19 July.
The Government has announced that we will move to Step 4 of the roadmap on 19 July but that people should remain cautious given the continued risks of the virus. Therefore, while many of the legal restrictions will be lifted, cautious guidance will remain.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the economic impact of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Frost
We have provided extensive support for businesses, including through the Trader Support Service and the Movement Assistance Scheme. We have also invested in promoting growth and opportunities in Northern Ireland, including through £500m of funding for the PEACE Plus programme over seven years and through our £400m New Deal for Northern Ireland.
However, we recognise the significant impact that the Protocol has had on businesses in Northern Ireland, despite the extraordinary efforts they have made to adapt to new requirements. Indeed it is hard to see that the way the Protocol is currently operating can be sustainable for long. That is why we are committed to working urgently and in good faith, through the structures of the Withdrawal Agreement, to find pragmatic ways forward on the issues that have been identified. We hope that, in order for those discussions to make the progress we need, there can be a common sense, risk-based, approach from the EU. We continue to consider all our options in meeting our overriding responsibility for sustaining the peace and prosperity of everyone in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of citizens of EU member states in Eastern Europe who are resident in the UK.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.