§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the index of deprivation by ward as it relates to(a) the West Midlands area and (b) Coventry, South; and what plans there are to address the inequalities highlighted. [136578]
§ Ms Beverley Hughes[holding answer 6 November 2000]: The Indices of Deprivation 2000 (ID2000) revises, extends and updates the 1998 Index of Local Deprivation. It is based on 33 ward level indicators of deprivation covering six domains: low income, employment deprivation, education and training deprivation, poor health and disability, poor housing and poor geographical access to services. Because it is based on ward level information it is more effective than previous indices in identifying pockets of deprivation across England and is a more effective means of targeting help at the most deprived areas. The indices show that there are 69 wards in the West Midlands in the 10 per cent. most deprived wards in England, of which five wards are in Coventry and two wards (St. Michael's and Binley and Willenhall) are in Coventry, South. The indices are considered to be the best means of measuring area deprivation currently, but will be kept under review and revised when significantly better information for small areas becomes available.
346W
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the recent deprivation indices produced by his Department, by ward. [136699]
§ Ms Beverley Hughes[holding answer 7 November 2000]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to him earlier today, column 345W.