HC Deb 19 March 2002 vol 382 cc213-4W
Mr. Cox

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the areas within the UK that suffer from economic deprivation. [43922]

Mr. Andrew Smith

Details of the most deprived areas in England are published in the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions' Indices of Deprivation 2000, which are available at http:// www.regeneration.dtlr.gov.uk/research/id2000/index.htm and in the Library. The Indices of Deprivation 2000 are measures of deprivation for every ward and local authority area in England. They combine a number of indicators which cover a range of domains (income, employment, health deprivation and disability, education, skills and training, housing and geographical access to services) into a single deprivation score for each area. Responsibility for measuring deprivation in Scotland and Wales is devolved to the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales respectively.