Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Office for National Statistics data on life expectancy, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change in life expectancy at birth for males between 2009-11 and 2014-16 in the local authority areas of (a) Torridge, (b) Brentwood, (c) Exeter, (d) Bromsgrove, (e) Denbighshire and (f) Vale of Glamorgan.

Life expectancy for males at birth, in each of these six local authorities was lower in 2014-16 than in 2009-11. The smallest decrease was in Vale of Glamorgan (0.5 years) and the largest in Bromsgrove and Torridge (both 0.9 years). None of these changes were statistically significant.

Between these two time points, male life expectancy at birth for both England and the United Kingdom as a whole increased by 0.8 years.

Life expectancy for females at age 65, in each of these eight local authorities life expectancy was lower in 2014-16 than in 2009-11. The smallest decreases were in Poole, Southampton and Fermanagh and Omagh (all 0.4 years) and the largest was in Stevenage (0.8 years). However, none of these changes were statistically significant.

Between these two time points, female life expectancy at age 65 for both England and the UK as a whole increased by 0.3 years.

Care needs to be taken when analysing and interpreting local authority data as their small populations mean their life expectancy is subject to fluctuations from year to year.

Public Health England (PHE) is working with academic partners to produce a model to help determine underlying trends in life expectancy for all English local authorities. This model will take into account the revised population estimates recently issued by the Office for National Statistics. PHE expects to be able to report on the results of this analysis later in 2018.