Deprivation in New Deal for Communities areas

Is the Government's regeneration programme, New Deal for Communities (NDC), which began in 1998, really working? A report from Communites and Local Government Department examines data from the Economic Deprivation Index (EDI) for the 39 New Deal areas between 1995 and 2005. It considers whether there has been any substantial reduction in economic deprivation in NDC areas and looks at how progress in NDC areas compares with their wider locality and other deprived areas. Although absolute rates of deprivation fell during the decade under observation, the report makes it clear that NDC areas continue to compare unfavourably with other areas as regards progress in reducing economic deprivation. The report also notes some interesting trends at lower levels of detail (using lower super output area level data and some case studies), which show that deprived areas are far less homogenous than might be expected. This detailed analysis shows how small pockets of deprivation can easily be hidden when looking at more general trends of improvement. There's also a companion report that looks at public spending in NDC areas.