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Death Certificates

Asked by Helen WhatelyConservativeDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 12 March 2025UIN 35346

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2025 to Question 31062 on Death Certificates, what the median time taken was to register a death at the most localised level for which data is available.

Answered by Ashley Dalton

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes weekly data showing the median time to register a death by certification type in England and Wales. The latest data, for deaths registered in the week ending 21 February 2025, shows that the median time to register all deaths was nine days, and the median time to register deaths certified by a doctor was eight days. The ONS is planning to extend this data to include the median time taken to register a death by region, and expect this to be available in Spring 2025.

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