§ Nick HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how eligibility for funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund is determined; and if he will make a statement. [34600]
§ Ms KeebleThe list of authorities eligible for the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund has been determined by taking those authorities that are among the 50 most deprived on any of the six measures in the Indices of Deprivation 2000 (ID2000). On this basis 81 authorities are eligible. The Government also decided that there should be transitional arrangements for those authorities that were within the 50 most deprived areas on any of the four measures under the old Index of Local Deprivation, but are not in the list of 81 authorities that qualify using the ID2000. Due to this, a further seven local authority areas are eligible for the fund, making a total of 88 eligible authorities.
The sum to be allocated to each authority is based on a standard amount per head of population in those wards in the authority that are in the most deprived 10 per cent. of all wards nationally, with a minimum allocation of £200,000 for any eligible authority in 2001–02. This relates an authority's grant funding to the severity of deprivation within its area, measured by the number of their residents living in particularly deprived areas.