§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of people living in rural wards in the United Kingdom were in low income bands compared to the national average in(a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999, (e) 2000 and (f) 2001. [15906]
§ Alun MichaelThe Countryside Agency is planning to establish a baseline for low incomes for the 2002 State of the Countryside Report. This will use the 1998 classification of rural wards and from late 2002 will use data on low income from the Office for National Statistics (this is the first time that data of this nature will be available). Reliable time series data for low income bands are not available for wards.