6 October 2000

DFP MINISTER WELCOMES RESEARCH INTO DEPRIVATION

Mr Mark Durkan, MLA, Minister of Finance and Personnel, today met representatives from the voluntary sector who were attending a consultation meeting at the Calgach Centre in Derry, on the review of deprivation indicators in Northern Ireland to replace the 'Robson measures'.

Welcoming the review, which is being undertaken by a research team from the University of Oxford in conjunction with Queen's University, Belfast, Mr Durkan said: "I welcome this commitment to consultation with the voluntary and statutory sectors which will provide valuable data pinpointing areas of deprivation in Northern Ireland. It is essential that available resources are properly targeted to those areas of greatest need and that interested groups have the opportunity to make an input into the compilation of this new index of deprivation.

"The research, under the direction of Mike Noble and his team from the Social Disadvantage Research Group at the University of Oxford, will provide up to date information on the geography of deprivation throughout Northern Ireland which will enable Departments to target need across a broad range of spending programmes."

The consultation in Derry today is one in a series that have been held across Northern Ireland. The new index of deprivation is expected to be available in the spring of 2001. Further information can be obtained from the researcher's website - http://ni-index.apsoc.ox.ac.uk or by contacting The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, who commissioned the research, at their website - www.nisra.gov.uk.

 

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

 

REVIEW OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF DEPRIVATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND

The geographical distribution of deprivation in Northern Ireland has been examined following each of the last three Censuses of Population in 1971, 1981 and 1991. The outcome of the 1991 analysis was a set of deprivation measures, frequently referred to as the "Robson measures after the lead author, Professor Bryan Robson of University of Manchester. The Robson measures have been used to target geographically a wide variety of programmes and projects which address social and economic disadvantage.

While the 1991 Census of Population remains the definitive source of data for small areas, the information is now almost ten years old and some wards have experienced significant social and economic change in the interim. Further, the increasing availability of administrative data sources with geographical identifiers, and the ability to analyse such statistics, presents the opportunity to re-examine the geographical distribution of relative deprivation in Northern Ireland in advance of the 2001 Census of Population.

Following a competitive tender, a contract to conduct a review of the measurement of deprivation for geographical areas in Northern Ireland has been awarded to a team from the University of Oxford, led by Mike Noble. The team includes Dr Ian Shuttleworth from the School of Geography at Queen's University, Belfast. The research began on 1 August and is due to be completed in the spring of 2001.