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Introduction

An attempt to measure and identify local areas where relatively large numbers of people were experiencing income deprivation was first made in the compilation of the Indices of Deprivation 2004 (ID 2004). This work was undertaken by the Social Disadvantage Research Centre at the University of Oxford on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now the Department for Communities and Local Government). Originally constructed on the basis of 2001/02 data, the "Combined Income Indicator" (CII) was updated using 2002/03 data and again with the ID 2007 covering 2005. Information is available for Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs). Full downloads of the first two sets of data for LSOAs in the whole of England are available from the Office for National Statistics Neighbourhood Statistics website whilst the latest 2005 data are available from the Department for Communities and Local Government. Data relating specifically to Lancashire can be obtained from our Data Download Centre. The latter also provides rankings of the CII scores for LSOAs within both a Lancashire and England context.

Background to the Data

The information used for the Combined Income Indicator has been taken from administrative data drawn from systems maintained by the Department for Work and Pensions, Inland Revenue, Home Office and National Asylum Support Service. It provides a simple count based on the number of adults and children living in families in receipt of the following benefits:

• Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) – This allowance can be claimed by people who are available for, and actively seeking employment, including those in remunerative work for less than 16 hours a week on average, and by people on a government training scheme. JSA is payable where a person is in receipt of insufficient income to meet prescribed needs.
• Income Support (IS) – This is intended to help people on low incomes and can normally be claimed by people aged 16 or over working under 16 hours a week and in receipt of insufficient income to meet prescribed needs. Those eligible include pensioners, lone parents, disabled people, sick people and other special groups.
• Working Tax Credit (WTC) – This is a tax credit available to those aged 16 or over and working for 16 hours or more a week and are responsible for a child, have a disability or are aged 25 or over and usually work at least 30 hours a week. Inclusion of this group in the CII is restricted to those below 60% of national median income excluding Housing Benefit and before housing costs.
• Disabled Person's Tax Credit (DPTC) – This is available to persons who are aged 16 or over, have an illness or disability that puts them at a disadvantage in getting a job, and have no more than £16,000 in savings. Inclusion of this group in the CII is also restricted in the same way as under the WTC)
• National Asylum Support Service – Data on asylum seekers is included in order to represent people who are not eligible for any of the above benefits and yet are income deprived.

It should be noted that the Combined Income Indicator is a simple numerical value representing a summation of the numbers of people claiming the above benefits. As such, a high number of people in any particular area do not necessarily mean that the area has a high rate of income deprivation, as the data do not take into account the size of the population in each LSOA. Some 17 England LSOAs, or less than 0.1% of the total do not have any value associated with them due to data disclosure controls. This applies to all counts lower than 10 – i.e. the very least income deprived areas. This process does not affect any of the Lancashire LSOAs.

Lancashire Results

The geographical distribution of income deprivation by LSOA across the sub-region as defined through the Combined Income Indicator is illustrated in Figure 1. Table 1 details the top and bottom placed LSOAs according to both their ranking within Lancashire and their overall ranking across England (details for all other areas can be obtained from the Data Download Centre). As a further aid to visualisation, Figure 2 has recast the Combined Income Indicator in terms of Lancashire Wards.

Lancashire may be seen to have a pattern of Income Deprivation distribution expressed through the Combined Income Indicator very similar to the England average. Close to 490 LSOAs in the sub-region are within the poorest 50% ranked areas in England, equivalent to 52% of Lancashire LSOAs. Lancashire has 23 LSOAs within the 1% most income deprived in England and 79 LSOAs within the poorest 5%. Not unexpectedly most of these areas are to be found within the larger urban centres. The very poorest ranking Lancashire LSOA is to be found in the Higher Audley area of Blackburn where one area (007E) with a count of 1,320 income deprived people stands as the 20th poorest in the whole of England. Other LSOAs across Blackburn together with Burnley, Hyndburn (Accrington), Pendle (Nelson), Blackpool, Preston and West Lancashire (Skelmersdale) together constitute the very poorest scoring areas.

At the other (more favourable) extreme, Lancashire may be seen to also have 27 LSOAs in the 5% least income deprived in England. Counts of forty people or less were recorded in a number of well-placed LSOAs across a number of districts including Chorley, Lancaster, Ribble Valley and South Ribble. Such areas are largely rural/dormitory in nature but also include a number of prosperous suburban areas, for example, the Penwortham area of South Ribble and the Fulwood Row and Sherwood areas of Preston.

Figure 1 Income Deprivation in Lancashire by LSOA, 2005 (number of people)

Source Department of Communities and Local Government - Combined Income Indicator, 2005

Whilst the overall pattern of income deprivation in Lancashire as measured through the Combined Income Indicator is very similar to the England average, significant skews in the distribution are evident across a number of Lancashire districts. Thus, as shown in Table 2, proportionally Blackpool, Pendle and Preston have more than twice as many of their LSOAs within the most income deprived 10% band compared with England and in Blackburn more than two-thirds of LSOAs are within this band. Conversely, Fylde, Chorley, South Ribble and Ribble Valley are notable for the relatively high proportions of LSOAs in the least deprived 9th and 10th decile bands.

Figure 2 Income Deprivation in Lancashire by Ward, 2005 (number of people)

Source Department of Communities and Local Government - Combined Income Indicator, 2005

For further details, please contact:
Peter Kivell
Tel 01772 534157
Email Peter.Kivell@lancashire.gov.uk