The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) have released the Indices of Deprivation for 2007.
The Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007 combines a number of indicators, chosen to cover a range of economic, social and housing issues, into a single deprivation score for each small area in England. This allows each area to be ranked relative to one another according to their level of deprivation.
The Indices of Deprivation 2007 (ID 2007) are measures of deprivation for every Census super output area (SOA) in England. The ID 2007 is intended to be as similar in structure to the ID 2004 as possible. The overall domains and the geography used have not been changed, though some specific indicators have been where more up to date indicators have become available.
The West Midlands' performance
We have produced some early analysis of the West Midlands region's performance on the Index. Based on the overall deprivation scores we calculated the proportion of lower super output areas (LSOAs) in each local authority that were in the 10% most deprived in the country. According to this categorisation the five most deprived districts in the region are:
- Birmingham (39.63%)
- Stoke-on-Trent (33.13%)
- Sandwell (29.41%)
- Wolverhampton (23.42%)
- Walsall (19.53%)
These five authorities are also in the top 50 most deprived districts in England.
A fuller description of the region's performance (PDF, 133KB) and the comparisons with the rest of England (PDF, 110KB) are available to download.
Maps
For comparison purposes we have provided two maps showing the overall performace of the region by displaying the LSOAs by the national quintiles for 2004 and 2007 (click on the images for large versions).
|
IMD 2004
|
IMD 2007
|
|
|
|
We have also considered how the different LSOAs have faired in 2007 compared to 2004. Unlike the 2000 and 2004 Indices, comparisons are acceptable between 2004 and 2007. Indeed CLG state:
"The methodology underpinning the ID 2004 and the ID 2007 are largely the same though there have been small changes to some of the underlying indicators. Comparison between the two Indices is therefore acceptable."
As such we have prepared two maps which display those LSOAs that have changed decile and quintile. This shows those that have either moved up or down the index between 2004 and 2007. It also helps to see where there are clusters of areas that have seen increasing levels of deprivation compared to the rest of the country.
|
Changes in Quintile
|
Changes in Decile
|
|
|
|