§ 2.46 p.m.
§ Baroness Ludford asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ Why their proposed "quality of life" barometer excludes indicators on crime and poverty.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)My Lords, those indicators are intended to focus on the key elements of quality of life which are most relevant to achieving sustainable development; that is, maintaining economic growth, while achieving social justice and protecting the environment both now and for future generations. Choices had to be made in order to arrive at a limited number of indicators. No single indicator can capture poverty, but this and the underlying causes of crime linked to poverty and lack of opportunity are reflected through the indicators on education, employment, housing and health. However, as this is a consultation document, we will consider extending the scope of the indicators in the light of responses.
§ Baroness LudfordMy Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his reply; indeed, I believe that the Government deserve some congratulations in proposing indicators. However, can I press the noble Lord on why these two most important quality of life determinants have been left out as direct indicators? After all, we have had the recent report of Sir Donald Acheson on inequalities in health in which he identified low income, especially for families with children, as a major cause of ill health. Moreover, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently reported that one-fifth of householders perceived crime as a major problem in their area. Therefore, surely crime and poverty are two major indicators which should be included in this respect. Can the noble Lord assure us that the Government will include them in the final proposals?
§ Lord WhittyMy Lords, I am always happy to accept the congratulations of the noble Baroness on our general approach. However, on the specific indicators, I can say that we will consider representations during the consultation period. Clearly, both poverty and crime have an effect on the quality of life. There are already in the public arena a number of fairly clear crime indicators which are widely covered in the media. However, poverty is a much more complex matter and falls under education, health and employment sides as well as applying more generally to the quality of life.
§ Lord DholakiaMy Lords, will the Minister consider commissioning some sort of research which would indicate that the quality of life actually suffers because of the extent of crime and poverty in some of our inner-city areas? Indeed, that may prove to be a very good indicator to take into account on future occasions.
§ Lord WhittyMy Lords, I accept what the noble Lord says. However, crime and poverty are not headline indicators as regards particular aspects of sustainable development. There is a much wider government policy behind all this, particularly related to issues of social exclusion, which will tackle many of the problems in the inner-cities to which the noble Lord referred.