Stillbirths from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021

Dyddiad y datganiad:
7 March 2022

FOI Reference: FOI/2022/3877

You asked

Please supply the total number of stillbirths from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.

We said

Thank you for your request.

ONS publish Births and Stillbirth statistics in an annual cycle. Publicly available births and stillbirths 2020 (based on birth registrations) for England and Wales:

The annual births release covering stillbirths in 2021 is provisionally scheduled for release in the summer 2022. The ONS usual publication schedule of births statistics and the different sources used for births data are described in the User guide to birth statistics.

As such, this information is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.

This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules  are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest.  This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.

In 2020, provisional births data was published for the first time in response to delays in birth registrations due to the coronavirus pandemic and the need to monitor the potential impact of COVID-19 pandemic on births.  Provisional births data are based on NHS Digital birth notifications which is a document completed by the doctor or midwife present at the birth. ONS published 2 ad hoc provisional births releases

Provisional births and stillbirths' data is not part of the ONS annual publication cycle. Future publications of provisional births and stillbirths will be based on ONS monitoring birth registration services and assessing any impacts delays on the ONS usual annual release cycle.

If you have any further queries about this information, please contact us via email at Health.Data@ons.gov.uk

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