§ Mr. RammellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions which measures of local deprivation his Department and its agencies use in considering allocation of funds to local projects. [66717]
§ Mr. MealeMy Department allocates funds for a range of local projects, but usually through third parties such as local authorities. In making allocations to local level we use local deprivation indices appropriate to the expenditure concerned. The main ones are
Housing—the annual allocation of housing capital resources to local authorities (apart from private sector renewal and disabled facilities grants) and registered social landlords uses Needs Indices which involve an element of targeting to areas of high deprivation as measured by the Index of Local Conditions.Regeneration—the 1998 Index of Local Deprivation is used to target regeneration funds on the most deprived areas in England.Rural Regeneration—funding provided through the rural regeneration programmes currently operated by the Rural Development Commission is targeted on the priority Rural Development Areas. These areas were designated in 1994 using a specific set of indicators to identify the key economic and social problems facing rural communities in England.Local Government—the allocation of revenue support grants to local authorities is governed by formulae which include a number of measures of social and economic deprivation. The details are set out in The Local Government Finance Reports for each year, as approved by the House.European Structural Funds—the Department manages the English Objective 1,2 and 5b Structural Funds Programmes. The programme areas eligible to receive Structural Funds are determined by socio-economic factors which include measures of deprivation. However, measures of local deprivation are not used by this Department when considering the allocation of funds to specific local projects within Objective 1, 2 and 5b areas.