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19 Nov 2007 : Column 592W—continued

VAT: Game

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will make it his policy to apply standard rate value-added tax to game birds which are bred for sport; and if he will make a statement; [165441]

(2) what his estimate is of the amount of (a) business rates and (b) VAT which the game bird shooting industry has paid in the last 12 months; what estimate he has made of its liability for each; and if he will make a statement. [165859]

19 Nov 2007 : Column 593W

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 10 October 2006, Official Report, column 725W.

No such estimates have been made.

Weather: Mortality Rates

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people over the age of 65 died during the winter months in (a) England and (b) the UK in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [165320]

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Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 November 2007:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people over the age of 65 died during the winter months in (a) England and (b) the UK in each year since 1997. (165320)

The latest available data are for 2005. The tables below contain the number of deaths in persons aged 65 and over for England and the UK. As there is no standard definition of winter, figures are supplied for every month.

Table 1: Number of deaths in persons aged 65 and over, by month of death, England, 1997 to 2005
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
January	55,558	40,120	52,006	53,764	40,962	44,134	40,534	41,482	41,320
February	37,308	35,933	36,732	34,744	34,871	34,347	34,890	33,601	35,023
March	35,731	39,154	37,292	34,217	38,133	36,419	36,856	35,261	38,448
April	33,781	37,053	32,657	33,070	34,102	33,649	34,984	32,064	33,079
May	33,760	34,190	32,629	32,095	33,611	33,144	33,577	31,846	32,649
June	31,789	32,171	31,314	31,121	31,565	31,612	30,679	30,385	29,963
July	32,166	32,827	31,308	31,549	31,940	32,322	31,641	30,787	29,720
August	31,621	32,164	31,562	30,466	30,738	31,079	32,959	30,590	29,760
September	31,441	31,930	30,862	29,809	31,180	30,871	31,056	29,879	28,337
October	34,421	35,299	34,293	33,416	32,504	34,764	34,826	32,728	31,229
November	35,315	35,406	33,956	34,460	33,873	33,923	37,049	31,909	32,022
December	39,382	46,433	48,609	37,371	38,709	39,365	40,557	37,882	37,045
Not known	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	2

Table 2: Number of deaths in persons aged 65 and over, by month of death, United Kingdom, 1997 to 2005
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
January	66,471	48,439	62,696	64,817	49,462	52,695	49,073	50,012	49,374
February	44,878	43,217	45,127	41,832	41,881	41,546	42,135	40,620	42,297
March	43,088	47,323	45,310	41,327	45,988	44,024	44,384	42,654	46,748
April	40,665	44,767	39,716	39,968	41,215	40,668	42,197	38,901	40,039
May	40,774	41,201	39,481	38,897	40,523	40,006	40,748	38,630	39,514
June	38,557	38,812	37,838	37,720	37,992	38,113	37,255	36,767	36,429
July	38,951	39,609	37,827	37,979	38,535	39,046	38,217	37,246	36,038
August	38,295	38,959	38,230	36,767	37,244	37,652	39,570	36,986	35,966
September	37,883	38,587	37,334	36,331	37,839	37,547	37,660	36,301	34,489
October	41,644	42,623	41,280	40,317	39,436	41,883	42,026	39,690	37,813
November	42,562	42,555	41,008	41,492	40,681	41,091	44,734	38,538	38,611
December	47,487	54,943	58,675	44,877	46,482	47,422	48,787	45,499	44,503
Not known	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2	2

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