§ David WrightTo ask the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria will be used to define deprived areas in relation to the Post Office Urban Network Reinvention Programme. [78349]
§ Mr. McNultyThe "Indices of Deprivation 2000" will be used to define deprived areas in relation to both the Post Office Urban Network Re-invention Programme and the Post Office Fund for Urban deprived Areas.
606WThe Indices of Deprivation 2000 are measures of deprivation for every ward and local authority area in England. It combines a number of indicators which cover a range of domains (Income, Employment, Health Deprivation and Disability, Education, Skills and Training, Housing and Geographical Access to Services) into a single deprivation score for each area.
The deprivation criteria for the Post Office Urban Network Re-invention Programme relates only to the fact that other than in exceptional circumstances, the compensated closure arrangements will not extend to offices in the 10 per cent. most deprived urban areas, which are more than half a mile from the next post office.
The deprivation criteria for the Post Office Fund for Urban Deprived Areas will be announced shortly.