Welsh Government commitment to ending poverty is resolute as new deprivation statistics are released

Wednesday, 27 November 2019 10:26

The Welsh Government is absolutely committed to improving outcomes for Wales' most deprived communities and supporting opportunities for economic prosperity.

This is the message from Economy Minister, Ken Skates as latest statistics showing relative deprivation across Wales are published.

The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2019 is the Welsh Government's official measure of relative deprivation for 1,909 small areas in Wales. It identifies locations with the highest concentrations of several different types of deprivation and is used to inform policymaking, allocation of resources, and services for local areas.

WIMD measures eight separate types of deprivation - income, employment, health, education, access to services, housing, physical environment and community safety - with the index for 2019 showing pockets of high relative deprivation in South Wales cities and valleys, and in some North Wales coastal and border towns.

WIMD 2019 shows that Newport is the local authority with the highest proportion of small areas in the most deprived 10% in Wales. Monmouthshire has no areas in the most deprived 10%, and Powys has 1.3%.

The index also reveals that St James 3, which contains a large part of the Lansbury Park estate in Caerphilly and was the most deprived area in WIMD 2014 is now the third most deprived area, behind two separate small areas of Rhyl.

Speaking as the index for 2019 was released, Economy Minister Ken Skates said: "The Welsh Government is absolutely committed to taking a cross Government approach to tackling poverty.

"Through our Economic Action Plan we are working to turbo charge the Welsh economy, spread opportunity and tackle inequality so we can ensure the benefits of sustainable economic growth are felt as widely as possible.

"We are also using our Employability Plan to provide tailored support for people, including those furthest from the jobs market in order to increase skills and help people enter employment and progress their careers.

"Our programmes such as Flying Start, Communities for Work, the Pupil Deprivation Grant and Families First are also vital in narrowing the gap between our most deprived and thriving areas.

"Spreading prosperity and tackling poverty is a priority commitment for this Welsh Government but we are working against the severe and unhelpful backdrop of a decade of austerity. There is no doubt that challenges remain but we will continue to fight tirelessly for a more equal and prosperous Wales where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and succeed."

Notes

The Welsh Government is supporting Wales' most deprived communities through a range of programmes which aim to help residents living in those areas and tackle poverty.

These programmes, from across Government, include:

· Flying Start which provides families with children under 4 living in some of the most disadvantaged areas with an enhanced health visiting service, access to parenting programmes, support for speech language and communication and quality, part-time funded childcare. Since being introduced in 2006, Welsh Government has invested more than £690 million in the programme. The target of providing Flying Start services to 36,000 children from 0 - 4 years old was met for the fifth year running in 2018/19.

· The Families First programme has promoted the development of multi-agency systems of support for families, particularly those living in poverty. The programme places an emphasis on early intervention and prevention, and works with the whole family to stop problems from escalating towards crisis. Since Families First was introduced in 2012, the Welsh Government has invested over £290million into the programme.

· Welsh Government regeneration programmes are providing or enabling £800 million of investment between 2014 and 2023 to support over 50 towns across Wales to rebuild and refurbish buildings and public spaces as well as tackle empty properties.

· Since its introduction in 2012 more than £475m has been made available through the Pupil Deprivation Grant, to support children and young people to reach their potential.

· In 2018/19 the Communities for Work programme, which is supported by the European Social Fund, has provided £15.9m to help people furthest from the labour market into work with 2,739 people obtained entering employment during the year. In the same year our £12m per annum Communities for Work Plus programme supported a further 2,227 individuals into employment. Since 2015, the Welsh Government's community based employability programmes have supported over 14,000 people into employment in some of our most deprived communities.

· From the 1 January 2020, more than £8m from the Single Advice Fund will provide the most vulnerable households with access to information and advice on improving household income.

· In 2018/19, the Welsh Government's £244m Council Tax Reduction Scheme supported almost 280,000 vulnerable and low-income households in Wales to be protected from any increase in their Council Tax liability, of which 220,000 continued to pay no council tax at all.

· The School Holiday Enrichment Programme has provided opportunities for children aged 7-11 years in disadvantaged areas to be more active, eat healthily and develop friendships whilst also making the most of local school facilities during the summer holidays.

The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019 can be found at: https://gov.wales/welsh-index-multiple-deprivation-full-index-update-ranks-2019<https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgov.wales%2Fwelsh-index-multiple-deprivation-full-index-update-ranks-2019&data=02%7C01%7CShaun.Holden%40gov.wales%7Cec6872c70be944c8a56808d77320b565%7Ca2cc36c592804ae78887d06dab89216b%7C0%7C0%7C637104456629092158&sdata=OVgVI6SyZZPnsfVS%2B7LoRNcBCqJEnmzavdkIl5QjhGg%3D&reserved=0>

Please note that WIMD does not measure the level of deprivation in a small area, but rather whether an area is more or less deprived relative to all other small areas in Wales. It is not possible to determine from a change in rank alone whether deprivation has improved or not in an area.

WIMD can be used for:

o Identifying the most deprived small areas

o Comparing relative deprivation of small areas

o Exploring the 8 domains (types) of deprivation for small areas

o Comparing the proportion of small areas within a larger area (e.g. local authority) that are very deprived

o Using indicator data (but not the ranks) to compare absolute change over time

· The WIMD website<https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgov.wales%2Fwelsh-index-multiple-deprivation&data=02%7C01%7CShaun.Holden%40gov.wales%7Cec6872c70be944c8a56808d77320b565%7Ca2cc36c592804ae78887d06dab89216b%7C0%7C0%7C637104456629102150&sdata=WggIb9ribVJLNQkbcMcjGuNtF0CFezALfviq3eSLGys%3D&reserved=0> includes previous releases of data as well as latest news and updates. You can also find:

o WIMD 2019 data summaries<https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgov.wales%2Fwelsh-index-multiple-deprivation-full-index-update-ranks-2019&data=02%7C01%7CShaun.Holden%40gov.wales%7Cec6872c70be944c8a56808d77320b565%7Ca2cc36c592804ae78887d06dab89216b%7C0%7C0%7C637104456629102150&sdata=1KboeoCDprfAUmu4XICZxRhrGo1w84ROYMCZHiDqqD4%3D&reserved=0>, including our main Results Report

o WIMD 2019 Guidance and Technical Reports<https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgov.wales%2Fwelsh-index-multiple-deprivation-index-guidance&data=02%7C01%7CShaun.Holden%40gov.wales%7Cec6872c70be944c8a56808d77320b565%7Ca2cc36c592804ae78887d06dab89216b%7C0%7C0%7C637104456629112146&sdata=3MPSypggPkHQtQMbe3qeRCEZbTx3oZaWKSnDcfvtGZI%3D&reserved=0>

o WIMD data is available for download from StatsWales<https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatswales.gov.wales%2FCatalogue%2FCommunity-Safety-and-Social-Inclusion%2FWelsh-Index-of-Multiple-Deprivation%2FWIMD-2019&data=02%7C01%7CShaun.Holden%40gov.wales%7Cec6872c70be944c8a56808d77320b565%7Ca2cc36c592804ae78887d06dab89216b%7C0%7C0%7C637104456629112146&sdata=qTDUXL0fS6dgZ0WutyzKl06ojqjk6JO81xRnhQj8hfA%3D&reserved=0>.