59 of 100 poorest 20 of 23 worst-hit schemes in Scotland areas are in Glasgow
More than half of the most long-term deprived areas in the UK are in Scotland, according to a shock academic report.
An 18-month study examined 120,000 neighbourhoods in one of the biggest-ever investigations into British deprivation.
Alarmingly, 59 of the worst-hit 100 housing estates for poverty and inequality were in Scotland.
The survey – which looked at census figures between 1971 and 2011 – also found that 47 of the 100 poorest areas during that period were in Glasgow.
The study was carried out by a team led by Professor Chris Lloyd at Liverpool University. They used information on the number of unemployed people, the number of overcrowded households and the number of cars per household in each ward.
It was revealed last week tha t Scot l and ’ s biggest city had the 10 most deprived districts in Britain.
In March, the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, Oxfam Scotland, Shelter Scotland and Barnardo’s were among 37 organisations who called on Scotland’s political leaders to tackle poverty and deprivation.
Prof Lloyd’s study looked at council wards across Britain, narrowing areas down to small neighbourhoods, measuring one square kilometre, called cells.
The deprivation league table is an average for the last 40 years and takes f igures from five national censuses since 1971.
Of the 23 worst areas in Britain, 20 were in Glasgow and one each in Greenock, Rutherglen, near Glasgow, and Paisley.
Other neighbourhoods in the worst 100 estates were Craigmillar, Pilton and Granton in Edinburgh and parts of Cumbernauld and Motherwell.
The Castle ward area of Stirling – which includes the Raploch estate – was also included along with a housing estate near the centre of Inverness.
Prof Lloyd, of Liverpool University’s department of geography and planning, said: “What we found was that though populat ions have cha nged , t he levels of deprivation have not.
“I would have expected Glasgow and Scotland to be up there but not in such a pronounced way.
” I was surprised Glasgow was so dominant. We think it’s important that the Government look at these figures.”
According to the research, the most deprived area in the UK in the last 40 years was the Canal ward in Glasgow. It includes Possilpark, Milton and Ruchill and takes its name from the Forth and Clyde Canal that goes through the district.
The council ward which featured most often in the research was Calton in the east end of Glasgow which includes Bridgeton and Dalmarnock.
Calton had six of the 100 most deprived par ts of Britain. Easterhouse , Pol lok and Springburn also featured in the worst-hit 100 areas in Britain.
Prof Lloyd added: “Glasgow has been persistently high in deprivation in cer tain neighbourhoods apart from areas of London.
“For example, 28 Glasgow areas are in the top 50 for the last 40 years.
“The sheer consistency of Glasgow in the f igures is surprising. But it f its in with what we know about the scale of deprivation and other problems in parts of the city.”
He said the survey did not look at causes of deprivation or the effect of Government policies.
The only non-Scottish areas to feature in the 30 most-deprived areas were Tower Hamlets in London, and other parts of the centre of England’s capital including Billingsgate, as well as Elswick in Newcastle.
Prof Lloyd added: “I hope people will use the data to get them thinking about what can we done. We’re not trying to label