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Older Indices

Those interested can find data and reports from pre 2004 deprivation indices here as well as brief descriptions of how the indices worked. Much of the information here is taken from a Leicestershire County Council report (available here) and a 2002 critique of the 2000 indices as official government reports from the time are no longer easily accessible.

Indices of Deprivation 2000 (ID)

Based on extensive consultations, this is the most similar of the old indices to ‘modern’ versions of the IMD. It created six domains which included 33 indicators. Domains were weighted and combined to create an overall deprivation score. It was summarised at ward and local authority level.

A child poverty index was introduced, a subset of the Income domain, and showed the % of children in a ward living in families claiming means tested benefits: Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance (Income Based), Family Credit and Disability Working Allowance)

Domains were: Income, Employment, Health & Disability, Education Skills & Training, Housing and Geographical Access to Service.

This index was created for the government’s neighbourhood renewal agenda and used to determine the 88 local authority districts eligible for the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (worth £975 million between 2001-2006) as well as various other regeneration projects and policies. In 2002 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister estimated that the ID2000 was used in allocating funds from 13 different policy initiatives across 10 government departments (details here)

Summary Report

Technical Report

Methodology Report

Ward Level Data

District Level Data

Index of Local Deprivation 1998 (ILD)

This was commissioned by the now-defunct Department of Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR) in 1997 to update and replace the Index of Local Conditions (ILC) and realign it to local authority boundary changes. Some of the indicators used in the ILC were retained. However some of the non-census indicators were refined, for example, the 1991 unemployment indicator was replaced with claimant count unemployment data.

The 12 indicators used in 1998 ILD were:

  • Unemployment (ONS 1997)
  • Housing lacking amenities (1991 census)
  • Overcrowded housing (1991 census)
  • Dependant children of income support recipients (1996 DSS data) Document Pack Page 122 3
  • Non income support recipients in receipt of council tax benefit (1996 DSS)
  • Low educational participation aged 17 (1991 census)
  • Low educational attainment (% 15 year olds gaining GCSE passes at grades D-G only plus those not gaining any GCSE passes) (1996 DfEE)
  • Standard mortality ratios for under 75 (1996) ONS – double weighted.
  • Home insurance weightings (1996) (Insurance companies) (crime proxy) – double weighted.
  • Derelict land (1993 DOE)
  • Male Long term unemployment/ unemployment ratio (1997 ONS)
  • Income support (DSS 1996)

This was calculated to local authority district level.

Summary Report

Summary of Results

Index of Local Conditions 1994 (ILC)

The Index of Local Conditions (ILC) was developed by University of Manchester and published by the Department of Environment in 1994. It was based on data from the 1991 Census of Population and created to distribute the Single Regenerative Budget. Many authorities also used it for purposes such as applying for lottery funds. The ILC was the first attempt to measure deprivation in a consistent way for all wards in England. It was produced at three levels – local authority districts, wards and Census Enumeration Districts. 13 indicators were used to produce the scores:

  • Unemployment (1991 census)
  • Households lacking amenities (1991 census)
  • Overcrowded housing (1991 census)
  • Children in unsuitable accommodation (1991 census)
  • Children in low earning households (1991 census)
  • Households lacking a car (income proxy) (1991 census)
  • Low educational participation aged 17 (1991 census)

Non census data was also used for the following indicators:

  • Long-term unemployment
  • Income support
  • Low educational attainment
  • Standardised mortality ratios
  • Derelict land
  • Home insurance weightings

Data and reports will be added here when found. In the meantime this article and this deprivation research review give some context for the uses and construction of the ILC.