To ask Her Majesty's Government how many divorces and separations there were in Wales in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008, and (d) 2009 to date. [HL1986]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, National Statistician, to Lord Roberts of Llandudno, dated March 2009.

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many divorces and separations there were in Wales in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008, and (d) 2009 to date. (HL1986)

Table 1 shows the number of divorces in Wales for 2006, 2007, and the first quarter of 2008. Figures for 2009 are not yet available.

^p - provisional

The latest quarterly and annual divorce statistics by country are also available in the quarterly publications, Population Trends and Health Statistics Quarterly. The most recent edition of Population Trends (#134) shows divorce statistics for Wales in table 2.1 on page 68, and is available online at www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Population-Trends-134.pdf.

Divorce statistics are based upon information supplied to ONS by the courts in England and Wales. The fact that a divorce has taken place in Wales does not mean that either one or both parties are resident there.

Although it is possible to estimate the separated population in the constituent countries of the UK, figures on the number of separations are not available. This is because nationally representative statistical information on separations occurring is not readily available in any administrative or survey source.