Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to data published by the Office for National Statistics, entitled Excess deaths in England and Wales: March 2020 to December 2021, published 22 March 2022, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of that data.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Excess deaths in England and Wales: March 2020 to December 2021 report is produced to the high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. ONS are a trusted supplier of Official Statistics and the content of this analysis can be regarded as adequate.

There are a range of organisations producing different estimates of excess deaths based on different methodologies. Other sources include the ONS ‘Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional’ report, which is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest

The ONS ‘Monthly mortality analysis, England and Wales’ is available at the following link:

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

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities ‘Excess mortality in England and English regions’ reports are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/excess-mortality-in-england-and-english-regions