§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average income was in the(a) 50 most deprived and (b) 50 most affluent wards in England in the last year for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the percentage of that income which was spent on food. [145980]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Mike Pepper to Mr. Andrew George, dated 5 January 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on income, and proportion of income spent on food, in deprived and affluent wards [145980]. I am replying in his absence.
The Expenditure and Food Survey is the only data source that provides consistent information on both income and expenditure (report available at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vink = 361). This is a sample survey covering about 7,500 households in the UK. However, given the limitations of the sample size and the survey design, results from the survey are not published below regional level. Ward level information is not available.