Figures released today by the Registrar General For Scotland have revealed that despite record funding from the Scottish Government Glasgow has the lowest life expectancy of any other area in Scotland.

The figures which indicate that Glaswegians can expect to live over five years less than those in the Perth come alongside previous damming date which reveals that Glasgow also has the worst health record and the highest levels of poverty and deprivation.

Commenting on the release of the figures on life expectancy Sandra White MSP for the Glasgow Region said: "This is the true legacy of decades of a Labour run Glasgow Council. Today Steven Purcell should hang his head in shame at his administration's betrayal of ordinary Glaswegians.

"The leader of Glasgow City Council must now take this opportunity to explain to the people of Glasgow why he has failed them and clearly set out what his administration will do to improve the lives of Glaswegians.

"He must also explain why instead of focusing on delivering the best for Glasgow Steven Purcell is more intent on increasing the Council's cash reserves which now stand at more than £190 million and focusing solely on his future career ambitions."

Notes:

1. This is the seventh publication dedicated to life expectancy produced by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). It reports on the present 14 NHS Board areas: unlike previous reports, it does not include analysis for the former Argyll and Clyde NHS Board area although figures for the former NHS Board areas are available on request for comparison.

2. Previous publications about life expectancy produced by GROS are available here.

3. A report on research undertaken by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to compare methodologies for calculating life expectancy figures and confidence intervals can be found on the National Statistics website.

4. All the figures in the report are period life expectancies and are a three year average for 2006-2008. They are produced by aggregating deaths and population data for the three year period, which provides large enough numbers to ensure that the figures published in the report are robust. Period life expectancy at birth for a given area and time period is an estimate of the average number of years a new born baby would survive if he/she experienced the particular area's age specific mortality rate for that time period throughout his/her life. The figure reflects mortality among those living in the area in each period, rather than mortality among those born in each area. It is not the number of years a baby born in the area in the period is expected to live, both because death rates are likely to change in the future and because many of the newborns may live elsewhere for at least some part of their lives.

5. Period life expectancies for the United Kingdom and its constituent countries (including the whole of Scotland) are calculated annually by ONS using complete life tables. These are available for 1980-1982 to 2005-2007 from the National Statistics website.

6. Because of the differences between complete (single year of age) and abridged (grouped years) life tables, the Scotland level figures presented in this publication may differ slightly from those published by ONS.

7. This publication is being made available through the GROS website.