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Isolation and hidden deprivation in coastal communities

A Backbench Business Committee debate on Isolation and hidden deprivation in coastal communities is scheduled for Tuesday 14 July 2026 in the House of Commons chamber. The debate will be led by Richard Quigley MP.

Deprivation in coastal areas

England

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provides deprivation ranks for small areas called Lower-layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in England in the publication English indices of deprivation 2025.

Library analysis shows that 13% of LSOAs in coastal constituencies are highly deprived, compared with 9% in inland constituencies.

[Source: Library calculations using Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, English indices of deprivation 2025, inland/coastal breakdown based on Library calculations using data from ONS.]

The maps below show that constituencies on the south west, north east and north west coasts of England tend to be more deprived and have a higher proportion of highly deprived LSOAs.

Deprivation in English constituencies

Percentage of LSOAs in the top 10% most deprived LSOAs in England

The Library briefing Deprivation in English constituencies provides more information about how deprivation is measured. The Library’s deprivation dashboard provides deprivation data for constituencies in England.

Scotland

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 (SIMD) provides deprivation ranks for small areas called data zones. The SIMD interactive map shows that the most deprived data zones can be found mostly in cities, although some were along the coast in Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Dunbartonshire, and Inverness.

Wales

The Welsh Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2025 (WIMD) report found that there were pockets of high deprivation in various coastal towns. Newport was the local authority with the second highest proportion of highly deprived LSOAs, with 18%. An LSOA in Rhyl West was the most deprived LSOA in Wales in 2025. Figure 1.1 in the report shows a map of highly deprived LSOAs in Wales.

The Welsh Government report Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025: deprivation in rural and urban areas provides more information on deprivation in rural Wales.

Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 provides data for small areas in Northern Ireland in 2017. The interactive map shows that highly deprived small areas do not seem more likely to be in coastal areas, although there are pockets of deprivation on the south east coast and Causeway coast.

Poverty, health and unemployment data

The Library published a briefing on Loneliness and isolation in elderly and vulnerable people for a Westminster Hall debate in December 2023.

The Library’s child poverty dashboard provides child poverty data for all UK constituencies.

The Library’s claimant count dashboard provides the rate of people claiming unemployment benefits by constituency.

The Library’s health conditions dashboard provides constituency data on health conditions.

The Library briefing Inequalities by life expectancy and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology briefing Geographical differences in healthy life expectancy provide geographic information on life expectancy.

The availability of public services by constituency

The Library’s dentists and dental practices and GPs and GP practices dashboards show where health services are in each constituency.

The Library briefing Who is responsible for public services in my constituency? provides a list of responsible bodies for each constituency.

Local funding formulas

The Library briefing Explaining the Fair Funding Review 2.0 explains recent changes to funding formulas.

The Library briefing Local Government Finance Settlement 2026/27 to 2028/29 explains how funding formulas are translated to funding allocations

More information about coastal communities

The ONS article Coastal communities, characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales: Census 2021 provides Census data for coastal communities in England and Wales, including on age, sex, health, disability, unpaid care, employment status, qualification, and housing tenure.

The Library published a briefing on coastal communities for a Backbench Business debate on 18 March 2025. The briefing includes information and data on health, the labour market, businesses and housing in coastal communities as well as government support for coastal communities.