questionText: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of current measures of deprivation in capturing dispersed and hidden poverty in rural communities.
answerText: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) leads on management and publication of the English Indices of Deprivation (IoD). Defra collaborated with MHCLG on a review and update of the indices, published in October 2025. A comprehens...
heading: Rural Areas: Disadvantaged