Matt Hancock quoted official data—even though it clearly said it “cannot be used to show the number of suicides... during the coronavirus pandemic”

4 Sep 2020 | Facts and news from Full Fact
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** FACT CHECK
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** No evidence supporting Health Secretary’s claim that suicides fell during pandemic peak
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On Tuesday, Matt Hancock told the House of Commons that new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the number of suicides in England fell during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of suicide deaths registered in England did indeed fall between the first and second quarter of 2020. But these figures don’t show the number of deaths that actually happened during this period.

All suicides are investigated by a coroner, and it often takes around five months to hold an inquest before the death can be registered, meaning many suicides registered during the peak of the pandemic actually happened earlier this year or even back in 2019.

The figures quoted by Mr Hancock are even accompanied by a warning that they “cannot be used to show the number of suicides with a date of death in 2020, including those that occurred during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic”.

The ONS said that the fall in suicide registrations was likely due to the pressures on the coroner’s service.
Misleading statistics ([link removed])
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** Children in Need is not donating £10 million to Black Lives Matter ([link removed])
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A post on Facebook with over 4,000 shares has claimed that the BBC charity Children in Need has donated £10 million to Black Lives Matter. This is not true.

Black Lives Matter is an umbrella term given to the movement for racial equality which has induced protests and demonstrations across the world.

In July 2020, Children in Need announced it was pledging £10 million over ten years to tackle racial inequality in the UK, not to Black Lives Matter specifically.

This was to match rapper Stormzy’s £10 million pledge to fund “organisations, charities and movements that are committed to fighting racial inequality, justice reform and black empowerment within the UK.”
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** FACT CHECK
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** It’s not true that 48,000 illegal immigrants stay in hotels, nor that 6,000 former soldiers sleep on the streets ([link removed])
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The author of a misleading Facebook post, which has been shared thousands of times, claimed 48,000 “illegals” sleep in hotels in the UK.

Based on the number given, we think that by “illegals” the author means people seeking asylum, rather than people who are staying in the country illegally, though some may have entered the UK without authorisation.

A National Audit Office (NAO) report in July found that 48,000 people seeking asylum were being provided with accommodation by the government in March 2020. Of those, an average of 2,800 asylum seekers were in temporary “initial accommodation”, which is “usually in a hostel-type environment”. Of these, “more than 1,000” were in contingency accommodation, which includes hotels.

The Facebook post also claimed there are 6,000 former members of the Armed Forces sleeping on the streets.

A figure of 6,000 “homeless” veterans in England and Wales was reported in 2018. But it appears likely to be a measure of statutory homelessness, which is not the same as rough sleeping.

Out of 33,270 English households most recently assessed as homeless by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2,120 were sleeping rough.

We don’t know if the same rate would apply to veterans, but it seems likely that most of those who are homeless would not be sleeping on the streets.
Homelessness vs rough sleeping ([link removed])


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** Also this week...
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* Claims of pandemic fall in child anxiety may not apply across the whole country ([link removed])
* A graph spreading on Facebook gets it wrong on flu vs Covid deaths ([link removed])

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