§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much of the expenditure by her Department in each of the years(a) 1996–97, (b) 1997–98, (c) 1998–99, (d) 1999–2000, (e) 2000–01, (f) 2001–02 and (g) 2002–03 (estimated) was allocated with reference to the Index of Multiple Deprivation; which expenditure programmes are allocated with respect to this Index and other measures of relative geographic deprivation; and if she will make a statement. [8939]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 25 October 2001]: The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) was announced by the former Department of the Environment, Transport 416W and the Regions on 22 August 2000. The following expenditure programmes by my Department are allocated with reference to this index:
£ million Programme 2000–01 2001–02 2002–031 Phoenix Fund 1.748 215 19 SBS Core Services funding3 n/a 7.5 10 RDAs4 n/a n/a 430 1 The figures for 2002–03 are estimates 2 The 2001–02 figure for the Phoenix Fund is an estimate 3 The SBS Core Services funding is delivered through the Business Links network. The amount shown is solely that part of the budget referring to the IMD; the majority of the budget is determined by the number of local businesses. SBS Core Services funding was not allocated on a deprivation basis in 2000—01 4 DTI will have effective responsibility for all grant in aid to Regional Development Agencies from November 2001. Certain RDA expenditure programmes remain with DTLR until April 2002. In addition, while Structural Funds are not allocated on the basis of deprivation, eligibility for the urban strand of Objective 2 of the European Structural Funds in 2000–06 was in part designated using the 1998 Index of Local Deprivation (the predecessor of the 2000 IMD). Areas eligible for the Structural Funds used this index as one of a series of indicators (e.g. unemployment rate, industrial decline, etc) in designating Objective 2 status. Also within the Structural Fund Programmes, the IMD was used to target resources to meet the needs of the most needy communities in urban and rural area.
Some DTI programmes take account of factors which are associated with deprivation: for example, the Regional Innovation Fund of £54 million allocated to RDAs in 2001–02 took account of unemployment, GDP and R&D spending.
From April 2002, the RDAs will be funded through a single pot, which will take account of the IMD as well as related factors such as labour market indicators. The figure shown here for 2002–03 is for the roughly 28 per cent. of the £2,550 million single pot which depends directly on the IMD.
As part of the Government's fuel poverty strategy a working group was set up to look at issues surrounding extension of the gas network. This working group is currently considering how the Index of Multiple Deprivation may be used in combination with other information to prioritise areas where serious consideration should be given to extending the gas network, or taking other measures to improve domestic heating and energy efficiency, with a view to alleviating fuel poverty.