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Summary of changes in deprivation 2015 - 2019

View and compare the 2015 and 2019 maps of Indices of deprivation.

There was some improvement in the overall level of (relative) deprivation in the Borough between 2015 and 2019.

This is evidenced by the:

  1. improvement in the overall Borough ranking; for example on the 'rank of average score' on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) the Borough was ranked 150 of 317 English local authorities in 2015 (where 1 is the most deprived), but improved to 156 in 2019
  2. the number of LSOAs falling within the 0-20% most deprived areas remained 14 in 2019
  3. improved average LSOA rankings on the IMD in many of the more deprived wards including Cauldwell, Goldington, Harpur, Kingsbrook and Queens Park

Among individual dimensions of deprivation, there was generally little change in the Borough between 2015 and 2019, though the number of LSOAs in the 0-10% decile on the income-related measures (the Income Domain, IDACI and IDAOPI) was lower, indicating some improvement.

There was decline in the Health and Disability Domain with seven LSOAs in the 0-10% decile compared to two in 2015, though five were in the 10-20% decile compared to eight in 2015.

Deprivation in the most deprived areas is persistent

Deprivation is clearly strongly entrenched in the most deprived areas. Of the 25 LSOAs which were among the 0-30% most deprived areas in England on the IMD in 2015, 20 remained among the 0-30% areas in 2019.

Of the 25 LSOAs that were among the 0-30% most deprived areas in 2015, 14 improved their ranking between 2015 and 2019. Relative deprivation worsened in 8 of the 25.

Changing ethnic composition of deprived areas

Areas of high deprivation in Bedford and Kempston generally have a much higher proportion of residents from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups than the Borough as a whole.

Across the 14 LSOAs in the Borough which fall among the 0-20% most deprived areas in England, BME groups form slightly over 50% of the population.

This BME proportion is much higher than the 28.5% among the total Borough population, or the 37% BME in Bedford and Kempston where all 14 of these LSOAs are located.

Further information

For further information, please contact intelligence@bedford.gov.uk