§ Mr. GapesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which contractors were asked to tender for the work devising the indicators of urban deprivation now being prepared by the Centre for Urban Policy Studies; for what reasons CUPS were chosen to carry out the work; whether other academic bodies will be asked to comment on the proposed indicators and the methodology for devising them; whether the final recommendations will be incorporated into standard spending assessment formulae; and whether similar work will be undertaken into rural deprivation.
§ Mr. Robin SquireThis contract was let by competitive tender. To disclose the names of tenderers would breach commercial confidence. The CUPS tender offered the best value for money in terms of meeting the study's objectives and price. We have invited the local authority associations and voluntary organisations to comment on the indicators 59W and methodology proposed by CUPS, and copies of the proposals have been sent to others on request. The current review of SSAs will include consideration of a range of social factors relevant to the costs of providing local services. We do not intend formally to incorporate the outcome of the CUPS research in SSA formulae. The Rural Development Commission, funded through the Department of the Environment, has ongoing research into rural disadvantage. It has recently consulted on census and unemployment data for use in assessing economic and social need in rural areas.