You asked

I want to know the latest suicide registrations for 2014.

I would like a breakdown of the number of male suicides in the local authority area of Barnsley - including age brackets and method used - for the following years:

  • 2011 to 2012, 2012 to 2013, 2013 to 2014, 2014 to15

or

  • 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 - depending on how ONS collates the figures.

A breakdown of the number of female suicides in the local authority area of Barnsley - including age brackets and method used - for the following years:

  • 2011 to 2012, 2012 to 2013, 2013 to 2014, 2014 to 2015

or

  • 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 - again, depending on how ONS collates the figures.

We said

Thank you for your query regarding suicide statistics.

ONS publish an annual statistical bulletin on suicides in the UK, which is available on our website

Due to the time it takes to compile UK figures, this bulletin includes deaths registered up to 2013. More recent figures for suicides registered in England and Wales in 2014, broken down by age group and sex are available in the download.

The mortality data held by the Office for National Statistics come from the information collected when a death is registered. All the conditions and circumstances recorded on the medical certificate of cause of death, or the coroner's death certificate, are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Mortality statistics are then reported by the underlying cause which is assigned using ICD coding rules. You will require Table 2 and will be looking at codes X60-X84 (Intentional self-harm) and Y10-Y34 (Event of undetermined intent) combined, which can be found at the bottom of the page. The National Statistics suicide definition includes both of these categories, as events of undetermined intent are usually cases where there is insufficient evidence (e.g. lack of a suicide note) for the coroner to record a suicide conclusion, but it can be reasonably assumed that the harm was self inflicted. Please note that a suicide conclusion can only be recorded in children aged 10 and over, so although the age groups shown in this table are from 5 to 14, there are no suicides in children under 10. The National statistics suicide definition only include deaths of children aged 15 and over, as before this age it is possible that events of undetermined intent are caused by accidents or unverified abuse.

A breakdown of methods used at England and Wales level is due to be released this Autumn for deaths registered in 2014. These figures for deaths registered from 2006 up to 2013 are available by using the following link and navigating to each year in turn, selecting reference tables and opening the first table.

Alternatively use the following links,

The tables you are interested in will be Table 5.19 (Deaths: underlying cause, sex and age group, 2012: Chapter XX External causes of morbidity and mortality). If you scroll down to the bottom, the causes you are interested in will again be X60-X84 and Y10-Y34.

Methods used and a breakdown by local authority area have not been published, but special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order from the mortality team (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreement of costs, where appropriate), and you do not need to make a Freedom of Information request. If you would like to request a data extract, please contact the mortality team directly (mortality@ons.gov.uk) to discuss your requirements and obtain a cost estimate. As this information is already available to you via this route ONS considers that S21(1) applies to this request and the information does not have to be supplied under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. S21(1) is an absolute exemption and no consideration of the public interest test needs to be applied.