§ Mr. Charles ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in order of sparsity the local authorities in Scotland using(a) the definition of settlement size used by his office and (b) the definitions of sparsity and super-sparsity used in the SSA formula for England and Wales. [52358]
§ Mr. Macdonald[holding answer 27 July 1998]: Three measures of sparsity are currently in use in the calculation of Grant Aided Expenditure Assessments in Scotland. The table lists local authorities in Scotland in order using each of these measures.
The information required to list Scottish authorities in order using the definition of sparsity and super-sparsity used in the SSA formula for England and Wales is not 145W readily available and will take some time to prepare. I shall write to my hon. Friend with the information in due course.
Rural settlement pattern1 Sparsity (additive)2 Sparsity (multiplicative)2 Eilean Siar Eilean Siar Eilean Siar Orkney Islands Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute Shetland Islands Shetland Islands Highland Aberdeenshire Highland Shetland Islands Moray Orkney Islands Orkney Islands East Lothian Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire Scottish Borders Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway Highland Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross Argyll and Bute Scottish Borders Scottish Borders Perth and Kinross Moray Moray Dumfries and Galloway Angus Angus Stirling Stirling Stirling East Ayrshire East Lothian East Lothian Clackmannanshire South Ayrshire South Ayrshire Angus North Ayrshire Fife South Ayrshire Fife North Ayrshire North Ayrshire East Airshire South Lanarkshire Fife West Lothian East Ayrshire West Lothian South Lanarkshire West Lothian South Lanarkshire Midlothian Midlothian Midlothian Falkirk Falkirk East Renfrewshire Clackmannanshire West Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire Clackmannanshire North Lanarkshire Inverclyde Renfrewshire Inverclyde North Lanarkshire Dundee City Falkirk Renfrewshire North Lanarkshire Renfrewshire Edinburgh, City of Inverclyde Edinburgh, City of Glasgow City East Dunbartonshire Aberdeen City Aberdeen City Aberdeen City Dundee City Dundee City East Renfrewshire West Dunbartonshire East Renfrewshire Edinburgh, City of Glasgow City East Dunbartonshire Glasgow City 1 Percentage of an authority's population living outwith settlements of 10,000+ population. A settlement is defined as a continuously built-up area that is at least 1km distant from any other built-up area 2 The measures of sparsity include 3 elements: (1) hectares per person; (2) percentage of residents living outwith settlements of 1000+ population (census of population 1991); (3) average distance between population centre point of local authority and the centroid of each postcode sector or enumeration district weighted by its population (census of population 1991). Each component series is standardised and the 3 are combined either by adding together (the "additive") or multiplying together ("the multiplicative"). The sparsity indicator values for the new authorities are the combined values of corresponding former districts, weighted by district population.