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24 July 2001

£28.2 Million for Neighbourhood RENEWAL Information

The Treasury has awarded the Office for National Statistics £28.2 million to develop a statistics service to improve neighbourhood renewal, it announced today. The Neighbourhood Statistics Service will provide more localised data necessary to implement the Government's strategy for combating social exclusion.

A cross-Government ministerial group will be established to act as the driving force for delivery of the information service.  Ruth Kelly MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, will chair the ministerial group. She said:

"Combating social exclusion is a major priority for the Government. To be effective in this we must have the most accurate and detailed information possible. Comprehensive local information is essential for pinpointing employment, drug and housing blackspots. This will enable us to identify disadvantaged neighbourhoods within relatively small areas, allowing us to target our efforts where they are most needed.

“The service will also track socio-economic trends and changes over time.  With improved data, national and local government and other service providers will be better able to design and to target policies, and to identify potential problems early.”

Len Cook, National Statistician and Head of the Office for National Statistics said:

"This resource will enable me to put into action plans to improve significantly the provision and availability of information for small areas in a way that has not been possible up to now.  Working with many partners across the public and private sector, we will put in place a range of developments which will transform the information infrastructure of this country."

Lord Falconer, Minister responsible for the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy said:

“To deliver the right solutions for a neighbourhood’s specific problems, it is vital that we have accurate and detailed information at our disposal. By funding a comprehensive new data system, which seeks to improve both the statistics available and ensure their consistency, we will produce an effective tool to underpin the renewal work going on across the Government – bridging the gap between the poorest places and the rest of the country.”

Notes to Editors

1. The Office for National Statistics has been awarded an additional £28.2 million over the next three years from the Capital Modernisation Fund.

2. The Government developed the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal in 2000.  Under the strategy, a Policy Action Team 18 report on Better Information identified the need for comprehensive local-area information.  The need for such information has now also been confirmed within the National Strategy Action Plan (A New Commitment to Neighbourhood Renewal), launched by the Prime Minister in January 2001.

3. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is leading the development of Neighbourhood Statistics and associated activities to meet the information needs of the National Strategy.  It aims to meet a wide range of other needs for small area data across all parts of central and local government.  The initiative will be dependent on input from central government departments, the devolved administrations, local government and the wider public service, for the mutual benefit of all these bodies and for the community more generally.

4. The Capital Modernisation Fund was set up in the Comprehensive Spending Review to support capital investment to improve public services.  The Fund is allocated on a competitive basis and on the following criteria:

• the extent the project applies genuinely innovative approaches to service delivery;
• the quality and strength of the economic appraisal of the project;
• the impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the service;
• how far the project contributes to the department’s objectives;
• how far the project is genuinely additional; and
• the robustness of arrangements for delivering, managing, accounting, monitoring and evaluating the project.

5. Further information on the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal may be found at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/seu/index/national_strategy.htm.

6. Further information on the Neighbourhood Statistics Service may be found at www.statistics.gov.uk/neighbourhood/home.asp.

7. Media enquiries should be directed at Liane Farrer, Treasury Press Office, tel 020 7270 5192.