THE most deprived areas of Basingstoke and Deane have been revealed in the latest 2021 census results.

As part of the 2021 census, households in England and Wales were classified in terms of four different “dimensions of deprivation”, which are based on certain characteristics.

The first is where any member of a household, who is not a full-time student, is either unemployed or long-term sick, and the second covers households where no person has at least five or more GCSE passes or equivalent qualifications, and no 16- to 18-year-olds at the home are full-time students.

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The third dimension is where any person in the household has general health that is “bad” or “very bad” or has a long-term health problem, and the fourth where the household’s accommodation is overcrowded or is in a shared dwelling or has no central heating.

Office for National Statistics data shows that 45 percent of households in Basingstoke and Deane were deprived in at least one of these dimensions when the most recent census was carried out.

It meant the area stood below the average across England and Wales of 51.7 percent and represented a drop from 48 percent at the time of the last census in 2011.

A further breakdown reveals which of Basingstoke’s 22 neighbourhoods were most affected by deprivation last year.

The most deprived area in Basingstoke and Deane was South Ham and West Ham, where 59.7 percent of households were deprived in at least one dimension at the time of the 2021 census, down from 66.4 percent in 2011.

Other deprived areas include Buckskin and Worting at 54.9 percent, Brighton Hill, which had 52.9 percent deprivation, Houndsmill and Oakridge, at 51.3 percent, and Basingstoke Central, Black Dam and Eastrop at 49.9 percent.

The area with the lowest deprivation was Hatch Warren (33.3 percent).

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Leader of Hampshire County Council Cllr Rob Humby said: “As a County Council, we work hard with a wide range of partner organisations, including other local councils such as Basingstoke and Deane, health services, statutory bodies including the Police, and voluntary and community organisations to tackle social exclusion, in whatever form it takes.

“This includes programmes in education and public health, economic investment and initiatives to improve the physical environment, targeted at local communities and tailored to local needs.”

He continued: “There is no single initiative that can be taken to reduce deprivation, nor can a single organisation, working alone, effect the change required; rather it is about joint action and collaboration, including working in partnership with central Government where necessary, to help address the inequalities experienced in some parts of our county, and the wider UK.”

The census results can be seen in full at ons.gov.uk/.