Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference the report entitled, Asbestos-related diseases in Great Britain, 2018, published in October 2018, how many deaths from mesothelioma there were in each (a) region and (b) local authority area.

The latest mesothelioma death statistics for Great Britain by region and local authority were published on the HSE website on 3 July 2019 and are summarised in the report at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/mesothelioma/mesoarea.pdf.

Mesothelioma deaths and Standardised Mortality Ratios by region and local authority area for the period 1981-2017 are available in tables MESOAREA01 and MESOAREA02 for males and females respectively at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/tables/mesoarea.xlsx . The statistics are further broken down by a 5-year time-period in tables MESOAREA03 and MESOAREA04 for males and females respectively.

Standardised Mortality Ratios allow an assessment of whether the death rate in each area is higher or lower than that for Great Britain as a whole, after allowing for population age differences.