Written question asked by David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party) on Thursday, 8 June 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 12 June 2006. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Wednesday, 14 June 2006 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Deprivation

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken to address the deprivation identified by the Northern Ireland Department of Finance and Personnel on 26 May 2005 in the Drumgask, Drumnamoe, Corcrain, Drumgor and Court areas of Craigavon.

Answer: Drumgask, Drumnamoe, Corcrain, Drumgor and Court areas in Craigavon were identified by the Northern Ireland Measures of Deprivation (New Noble Index) as being in the 10 per cent. most deprived urban areas in Northern Ireland.The Government’s main strategy for tackling areas of high urban deprivation is Neighbourhood Renewal and three local Neighbourhood Partnerships have been established in the Craigavon borough council area to help take forward the strategy in the areas that have been identified as deprived. The Drumgask and Drumgor areas are covered by the Brownlow Partnership; the Court and Drumnanoe areas are covered by the Lurgan Partnership and the Corcrain area is covered by the Portadown Partnership.All three partnerships are currently working in consultation with interested parties to develop a Vision Framework and Action Plan that will set out in detail the programmes and activities needed to address deprivation and improve services. Local consultation is expected to take place later this year.

Secondary information