One question that British voters may have asked themselves during the 2024 election campaign is whether they are any better off now than they were in 2010 when the Conservative-led coalition came to power. A recent poll reveals that most Britons (73%) think they are not. This is unsurprising given the evidence.
Average incomes have grown more slowly than previously, and economic growth has lagged behind many comparable nations. Public services have worsened . Now, along with falling life expectancy and rising child deaths , the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that another key measure of health has worsened: avoidable mortality.
The ONS data tracks trends at the level of local authorities in “preventable mortality”, which can be avoided through effective public health and “primary prevention” before a person becomes unwell, and in “treatable mortality”, avoidable through timely treatment once a person needs it. When combined these two measures are termed “avoidable mortality” or “avoidable deaths”. All these measures consider only deaths in those aged under 75 and are age-standardised to enable fair comparisons, without being affected by the difference in age distributions, among local authorities and across time.
While the data for England is reported by year, those for local authorities are averaged over three years to minimise the effect of short-term fluctuations, such as cold winters. These latest statistics show sustained progress between 2.