§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to ensure that the calculation of deprivation indices take account of local crime rates. [94521]
§ Mrs. RocheThe Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently engaged in a project to consider options for updating the Indices of Deprivation 2000 (ID 2000). As part of this project, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is investigating the potential for constructing a Crime and Social Order domain, which would measure the deprivation people face as a result of crime or as a result of living in an area with high rates of crime and social disorder. Discussions are currently taking place with officials in the Home Office over the scope, availability and quality of data.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has always recognised that it would be important to include a crime/ social order domain in the ID 2000 but were previously prevented from doing so because of a lack of robust data.