Lord Framlingham

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the noble Lord’s Parliamentary Question of 31 March is below and attached.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

The Lord Framlingham

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

5 April 2022

Dear Lord Framlingham,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am replying to your Parliamentary Question asking how many deaths, confirmed by coroner’s courts, have been directly caused by COVID-19 vaccinations (HL7550).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in England and Wales[1]. Mortality statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. National Records for Scotland^[2] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency^[3] are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Data on deaths registered due to COVID-19 vaccines causing adverse effects in therapeutic use (ICD-10 code U12.9) are available up to February 2022 and are reported in table 12 of Monthly Mortality Analysis[4]. According to data available up to February 2022, out of 124,132,189 COVID-19 vaccinations given to people in England and Wales[5], there have been 23 deaths registered[6] so far due to this cause. Each of these were certified by a coroner.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsregisteredinenglandandwalesseriesdrreferencetables

[2]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/

[3]https://www.nisra.gov.uk/

[4]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwales

[5] https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations, accessed on the 6^th April 2022.

[6]Data for 2021 and 2022 are provisional. There can be a delay between the date a death occurred and the date a death was registered; deaths certified by a coroner are often subject to longer-than-usual registration delays. More information can be found in our Impact of registration delays release.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

13 January 2021

Dear Lord Framlingham,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what was the total number of deaths in the United Kingdom (UK) in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, (3) 2017, (4) 2018, (5) 2019, and (6) 2020 (HL11732).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing numbers of deaths registered in England and Wales. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. The most recent annual figures published for the UK as a whole are for deaths registered in 2019[1]. Therefore, to produce a provisional figure for 2020, we have totalled provisional estimates published independently by the ONS[2], NRS[3] and NISRA[4].

Table 1 below provides the registered number of deaths from all causes in the UK for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Source: ONS

Notes:

1 Figures are based on deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring, in the specified calendar year.

² Deaths statistics are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration, a legal requirement.

³ Deaths should be registered within five days of the date of death with the exception of Scotland where deaths should be registered within eight days. There are however a number of situations when the registration of a death will be delayed, for example deaths referred to coroners.

⁴ The provisional estimates for 2020 are compiled using national estimates published by ONS, NRS and NISRA.

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/vitalstatisticspopulationandhealthreferencetables

[2] https://blog.ons.gov.uk/2021/01/12/counting-deaths-involving-coronavirus-a-year-in-review/

[3] https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/covid19/annual-deaths-excess-deaths-1855-2020.xlsx

[4] https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/monthly-deaths

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) reports to Parliament directly and is held to account through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. Therefore, the Department for Business and Trade is unable to respond on their behalf.

The Ombudsman’s officials have indicated to my Department that they will take no further action on the complaint, at least until the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry and the GLO compensation scheme have run their course.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) reports to Parliament directly and is held to account through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. Therefore, the Department for Business and Trade is unable to respond on their behalf.

PHSO has confirmed that they were contacted regarding a complaint from a sub-postmaster in relation to the Post Office Horizon scandal.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) reports to Parliament directly and is held to account through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. Therefore, the Department for Business and Trade is unable to respond on their behalf.

PHSO has confirmed that they do not have any live investigations relating to the Post Office Horizon scandal.

Government is clear that the Post Office should be a valuable social and economic asset for communities and businesses for years to come. The Post Office delivers essential services that are hugely valuable, to both individuals and SME businesses, across the UK. The Minister for Postal Affairs continues to champion the Post Office across Government and to external stakeholders where appropriate, however, Post Office Limited is a commercial business and it is right for the company to lead on promoting post offices and raising awareness of the value they deliver.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that the Pfizer vaccine and a half dose of the Moderna vaccine can be offered as the third booster dose, irrespective of which vaccine someone has received as their primary course. Where mRNA vaccines cannot be offered e.g. due to contraindication, vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine may be considered for those who received AstraZeneca vaccine in their primary course.

Individual developers are responsible for organising supply from different supply chains to customers. In line with existing MHRA approved production procedures we expect these doses to come from various manufacturers based in different European countries. The overall number of vaccinations is publicly available and updated weekly, however the proportion supplied by each provider is commercially sensitive.

The hosting of Ashes test matches is a matter for the ECB as the governing body for cricket in England and Wales.

His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting the hosting of sporting events across the UK and encourages all event organisers to consider not only the economic benefits that their events will generate, but also the wider social benefits they will bring such as volunteering, community engagement, and physical and mental wellbeing.

Non-professional activities are permitted indoors within the legal gathering limits in a group of up to 6 people, or as a group of 2 households/bubbles. Activities can take place with multiple permitted groups, provided the groups are kept separate throughout the activity, and the event is organised in line with the organised events guidance for local authorities. However, non-professional singing indoors should only take place in a single group of up to 6 people. Activities should be organised to allow for social distancing to be maintained.

We have followed the views of public health experts on singing. We are aware that singing can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission through the spread of aerosol droplets. We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students and staff at higher education (HE) providers in the UK. Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2019/20.

Data on the number of student enrolments at HE providers in the academic year 2019/20 are available in Table 1 of HESA’s HE Student Data pages: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-1. This includes students registered at universities, university colleges and specialised HE providers but excludes those registered at further education (FE) colleges. 107 providers held full University status in England as of November 2021 and 1,836,205 students at undergraduate and postgraduate level were registered with them in the academic year 2019/20. Each had one head of provider (Vice-Chancellor or equivalent).

Equivalent statistics for the academic year 1991/92 were compiled by the Universities Central Council on Admissions. Volume 1 of the 1991/92 students and staff publication from the Universities’ Statistical Record [1] shows that there were 346,587 undergraduate and postgraduate students registered at 34 universities in the academic year 1991/92. This count excludes students registered at FE colleges and former polytechnics.

Data on the total renumeration of each head of provider in the academic year 2019/20 are available in Table 11 of HESA’s HE Finance Data pages: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances/table-11. In 2019/20, the total renumeration (before salary sacrifice) of the heads of 105[2] providers that held University Title in England as of November 2021 was £30,243,000. Data for the academic year 1991/92 is not available.

[1] The USR publication is not readily available online but is available to users registered with the UK Data Service: https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/.

[2] Excluding University of Buckingham and Regent’s University London, which are not available.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students and staff at higher education (HE) providers in the UK. Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2019/20.

Data on the number of student enrolments at HE providers in the academic year 2019/20 are available in Table 1 of HESA’s HE Student Data pages: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-1. This includes students registered at universities, university colleges and specialised HE providers but excludes those registered at further education (FE) colleges. 107 providers held full University status in England as of November 2021 and 1,836,205 students at undergraduate and postgraduate level were registered with them in the academic year 2019/20. Each had one head of provider (Vice-Chancellor or equivalent).

Equivalent statistics for the academic year 1991/92 were compiled by the Universities Central Council on Admissions. Volume 1 of the 1991/92 students and staff publication from the Universities’ Statistical Record [1] shows that there were 346,587 undergraduate and postgraduate students registered at 34 universities in the academic year 1991/92. This count excludes students registered at FE colleges and former polytechnics.

Data on the total renumeration of each head of provider in the academic year 2019/20 are available in Table 11 of HESA’s HE Finance Data pages: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances/table-11. In 2019/20, the total renumeration (before salary sacrifice) of the heads of 105[2] providers that held University Title in England as of November 2021 was £30,243,000. Data for the academic year 1991/92 is not available.

[1] The USR publication is not readily available online but is available to users registered with the UK Data Service: https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/.

[2] Excluding University of Buckingham and Regent’s University London, which are not available.

The British beef sector is highly resilient and plays a significant role in the production of high- quality meat for both the domestic market and for export. It operates in an open market and the value of commodities is established by those in the supply chain. The government continues to work closely with the beef industry and to monitor the impacts of the range of commercial, environmental and market related factors which influence a farmer’s decision to rear beef.

The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK.  UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.

Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.

For around 2,300 growers in the East of England sugar beet plays a vital role in soil and crop health in the arable farm rotation, allowing a season of “rest” from cereal production. Farmers consider a range of factors, including global market developments in price, their soil type and their long-term agronomic strategy, when deciding which crops they should include in their crop rotation. Domestic disease and pest pressures and the weather will also impact the quality of the crop and resulting sugar production levels.

The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.

Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.

The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.

Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.

The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.

Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.

The UK has a high degree of food security, built on supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 73% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have changed little over the last 20 years: historical production figures, including for the commodities you reference, can be found in “Agriculture in the United Kingdom”, a publication of annual statistics about agriculture in the United Kingdom at GOV.UK. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

Domestically, the Government has committed to broadly maintain the current level of food we produce. This includes sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities, including horticulture and seafood, and the Agriculture Act imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to encourage environmentally sustainable food production. Our farming reforms aim to support a highly productive food producing sector by supporting farmers to manage land in a way that improves food production and is more environmentally sustainable, and by paying farmers to produce public goods such as water quality, biodiversity, animal health and welfare and climate change mitigation, alongside food production.

Speaking at the recent National Farmers Union Conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister and the Environment Secretary announced a range of measures to boost productivity and resilience in the sector, including the largest ever grant offer for farmers in the coming financial year, expected to total £427 million. This includes doubling investment in productivity schemes, bolstering schemes such as the Improving Farming Productivity grant, which provides support for farmers to invest in automation and robotics, as well as solar installations to build on-farm energy security. The Prime Minister also announced a new annual UK-wide Food Security Index, which will capture and present the data needed to monitor levels of food security, and announced plans to hold the Farm to Fork Summit annually.

As set out in the Network North command paper, for the historic Phase 1 scope DfT officials have estimated a provisional range of £45 billion to £54 billion.

Given these cost assessments were made before the decision was taken to cancel Phase 2, the Department has asked HS2 Ltd to consider the revised scope of the project and provide an action plan on how it will deliver this at the lowest reasonable cost. We will be able to provide more information in due course.

Delivery remains on track for the initial high-speed services between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street by 2029 to 2033. An updated delivery-into-service range for services to Euston will be provided in due course.

The HS2 Phase One scheme, as approved by Parliament and which received Royal Assent in 2017, includes the London HS2 terminus station at Euston, along with a complimentary interchange station at Old Oak Common.

More recently, the Oakervee Review considered the use of Old Oak Common as the London terminus, but concluded that the Government should continue with the section of route from Old Oak Common to Euston, on the basis that Euston station is an important part of realising the benefits of HS2. There are no plans to change location of the London HS2 terminus station from Euston, although Old Oak Common will act as the temporary London terminus for HS2 services until Euston station is complete.

The top speed on both the London to West Midlands and West Midlands to Crewe sections of HS2 will be 225mph (360km/h). Once HS2 Phase 1 opens in full, HS2 trains will be able to make the 109-mile journey from London Euston to Birmingham Curzon St in 49 minutes, including stops at Old Oak Common and Birmingham Interchange. Excluding the 2 minutes that the train is stopped for passengers to board at each station, this represents an average speed of 145mph. Once HS2 Phase 2a opens, HS2 trains will be able to make the 58-mile non-stop journey from Birmingham Interchange to Crewe in 20 minutes, representing an average speed of 174mph.

Phase One of HS2 will see a new high speed railway line constructed from Birmingham to London which will run on 140 miles of dedicated track. Four new HS2 passenger stations will be included on the route: London Euston, Old Oak Common (West London), Interchange in Solihull and Birmingham Curzon Street.

Phase 2a will provide 36 miles of dedicated track to Crewe. In addition, passengers will be able to board HS2 services at Stafford and Stoke, via the existing West Coast Main Line.

There are no plans to delay or pause any HS2 works, including woodland removal, provided they can proceed in line with guidance from Public Health England.

The Oakervee Review recently conducted an assessment of the project and concluded that it should continue. At a time when the construction sector faces uncertainty during the coronavirus outbreak, the Government’s subsequent decision to authorise ‘Notice to Proceed’ for Phase One has provided certainty for construction companies, communities along the route, and the wider UK supply chain supporting this transformational project, which is crucial to the Government’s long-term plan to level up the country.

There is no evidence linking excess deaths to the COVID-19 vaccine. Analysis from the Office for National Statistics, published on 25 August 2023, shows that people who died between 1 April 2021 and 31 May 2023 and who had a COVID-19 vaccine, had a lower mortality rate than those who had not been vaccinated.

Each COVID-19 vaccine is only authorised once it has met robust standards of effectiveness, safety and quality set by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). No medicine or vaccine is completely risk-free, but the MHRA continually monitors the safety of the vaccines through a comprehensive vaccine surveillance strategy. This monitoring strategy is proactive and based on a wide range of information sources, with a dedicated team of scientists continually reviewing information to look for safety issues or any unexpected, rare events. Any information indicating a possible new safety concern is thoroughly evaluated, including through a review by the independent expert working group for COVID-19. Updated advice for healthcare professionals and patients is issued where appropriate.

All COVID-19 vaccines deployed in the United Kingdom have been authorised for use following a rigorous review by the independent regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The MHRA continuously monitors a wide range of data regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, including reports of adverse reactions from the UK and internationally. The MHRA’s position remains that the benefits of these vaccines far outweigh any currently known side effects in the majority of patients.

In the very rare event where an individual may have suffered a severe adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine, care is likely to be best managed by local National Health Service specialist services, augmented as appropriate by national specialist advice.

There are currently no existing community diagnostic centres (CDCs) in Suffolk and potential locations remain under review. NHS England’s discussions with local integrated care systems, diagnostic networks and primary care services have considered Hartismere Hospital as a potential site for a CDC. However, these locations will be determined alongside wider system plans for providing more accessible diagnostics to the local population, including potential sites in Ipswich and Newmarket.