Matters of life and death

Lord Lucan is now officially presumed dead. How do you have someone declared dead? In England and Wales, under the Presumption of Death Act 2013…
— Anyone can apply to have anyone else declared dead, but if the applicant is not a spouse, civil partner, parent, child or sibling of the presumed deceased they must show they have a significant interest.
— The person should have been missing for at least seven years, but it is possible to have someone declared dead earlier if the court is convinced they have died.
— It costs £480.
— An order can be revoked if the person later turns up alive, but that will not reinstate a marriage or civil partnership.
— The act cannot be used in the instance of a missing monarch.

Electoral returns

The Conservatives were accused of breaking the Electoral Commission’s spending limit in three by-elections. How is money spent on electioneering?

Spending by parties in 2015 general election
Unsolicited mail to electors
£15m
Market research/canvassing
£7.6m
Advertising
£6.8m
Rallies and events
£2.4m
General administration
£2m
Transport
£1.6m
Broadcasts
£866,000
Media
£329,000
Manifestos
£318,000

Source: Electoral Commission

Cultural capital

Chorus singers at the English National Opera threatened to strike over proposed salary cuts due to a lower Arts Council grant. How is arts funding distributed?

London
£556m
West Midlands
£49m
North West
£47m
Yorkshire and Humberside
£34m
South West
£23m
South East
£19m
North East
£18m
East
£15m

Source: GPS Culture, figures for England 2015/6

Dangerous games

A seventh celebrity was injured during filming of a Channel 4 show, The Jump. Snow sports injuries per 100 per professional contestants over two years:

Snowboarding
56.3
Freestyle
38.4
Alpine
36.7
Ski-jumping
21.1
Nordic combined
19.2

Source: Oslo Sports Trauma Research