Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her department's Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, a) in what way deprivation and community requirements are assessed with regards to applications to the fund and b) how she will ensure lower socioeconomic areas within otherwise less deprived areas are taken into account in these decisions.

The Heritage at Risk Capital Fund gives grants towards the repair and conservation of historic buildings across England, and priority is given to projects with the highest level of deprivation and need for investment based on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and the Community Needs Index (CNI).

The highest priority is given to projects in areas of ‘double disadvantage’, that fall within both IMD 1-3 areas and areas identified through the CNI, followed by projects in either IMD 1-3 areas or those identified through the CNI. For projects that do not fall within these defined areas of deprivation, priority is given to projects which have the greatest financial need and urgency of repair and provide the greatest community benefit.

The IMD and CNI consider deprivation at a Lower Layer Super Output Area level, which are made up of approximately 400 to 1,200 households. This provides hyper-local insights into the level of deprivation of a neighbourhood, including identifying lower socio-economic areas within otherwise less deprived areas.