§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the connection between criminal activity and indicators of deprivation. [56229]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 21 May 2002]Work by the Home Office suggests that while many deprived areas do also have high crime rates a significant number do not and some deprived areas have in fact very low crime rates. 66 of the 88 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund areas are also in the top 88 for combined crime rates but 22 (i.e. quarter) are not and of those 22, seven have combined crime rates that are significantly lower than the mean for England. The areas with high deprivation but low crime rates are typified by long-established communities on estates in rural or semi-urban areas.
Conversely some local authorities with significant crime problems are not in the 88 most deprived areas. These are typically city centres or local commercial areas.
Some preliminary analysis has also been carried out using the Multiple Deprivation Index and the British Crime Survey. This suggests that there is a correlation between criminal activity and deprivation. However, the correlation varies significantly between crimes. Neither area of research examines the extent, if any, of causal links between the criminal activity and indicators of deprivation.