Project Director: Tony Gore
Project Duration: 2011

A number of new Unitary Councils were formed in 2009 by combining consituent shire districts into single units. This is likely to lead to the discontinuation of several key statistics for the constituent parts of these new county district. In some places this will have the effect of masking major variations in deprivation, unemployment, economic opportunity and human capital. This study examined a range of statistical sources to pinpoint which areas were likely to lose out in this way. The aim is to ensure that central government and the official statistical authorities continue to assemble and publish figures for the former shire districts, so that their pressing needs are not obscured by amalgamation with more affluent areas.