Life Expectancy

Mrs. May
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the average life expectancy was for (a) males and (b) females in each (i) local authority area, (ii) parliamentary constituency, (iii) middle layer super output area and (iv) lower layer super output area in each of the last five years.

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

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 26 January 2010:

The Director General for the Office for National Statistics has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the average life expectancy was for (a) males and (b) females in each (i) local authority area, (ii) parliamentary constituency, (iii) middle layer super output area and (iv) lower layer super output area in each of the last five years. I am replying in his absence. (313164)

Life expectancy figures are calculated as three-year rolling averages, and are published annually by ONS1. A local government reorganisation took place on 1st April 2009, in which a number of former local authorities were merged to form new unitary authorities. Life expectancy figures on the latest boundaries are only available for 2006-08. Life expectancy figures based on the old boundaries are available for all five years (2002-04 to 2006-08). For completeness, both sets of figures have been provided in this Answer.

Table 1 provides the period life expectancy at birth for (a) males and (b) females in each (i) local authority in England and Wales, for 2002-04 to 2006-08 using pre-April 2009 boundaries. Table 2 provides the period life expectancy at birth for (a) males and (b) females in each (i) local authority in England and Wales, for 2006-08 using post-April 2009 boundaries (the latest figures available). A copy of each table has been placed in the House of Commons library.

Life expectancy figures for (ii) parliamentary constituencies, (iii) middle layer super output areas and (iv) lower layer super output areas are not available. Life expectancy cannot be reliably calculated for areas smaller than local authorities for similar time periods.

1 Office for National Statistics (2009). Report: Life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by local areas in the United Kingdom, 2006-08. “Health Statistics Quarterly” 44, 59-68.