§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions which independent academic experts have been consulted over his proposals for changes to the index of local deprivation. [118554]
§ Ms Beverley HughesThe index review team benefited from the advice of an advisory panel of 40 academic and other experts. The panel included academics from number of universities including Bath, Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Lincolnshire and Humberside, the London School of Economics, Warwick and York and members of other organisations including the Policy Studies Institute, the Local Government Association, the Improvement and Development Agency and members of the Central and Local Government Information Partnership sub-group on deprivation statistics.