Housing estate named most deprived area in the country
Ferguslie Park tops the list for second year as report reveals poor on move
NOTORIOUS housing estate Ferguslie Park in Paisley has been named as the most deprived area in Scotland, according to stark new figures.
The estate, which became known for drug use and crime in the 1990s, topped the list for the second time in a row in a report that also reveals a growing “suburbanisation” of poverty.
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) shows there has been a rise in the number of poverty-stricken zones in almost a dozen council areas over the last four years.
West Dunbartonshire, Midlothian, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire have seen the largest increases.
Nearly 7,000 small areas have been ranked using employment, income, education, health, crime and housing data.
Professor Nick Bailey, from Glasgow University’s Urban Studies division, said the figures also revealed the increased “suburbanisation of poverty”, where low income groups are pushed out of inner cities.
The problem has been well-documented in English and American cities, he said, but less so in Scotland.
He added that Glasgow and Edinburgh have both seen thousands of people on lower incomes move from the inner city to the outer boroughs in the last 12 years.
He added: “If you took an area that size and cleared it there would be political uproar.
“But what is happening is so fragmented that it is almost passing without comment.”
Scottish Communities Secretary Angela Constance said the map showed a “significant long-term challenge”, exacerbated by UK Government welfare cuts.
She pointed to a £100 million fund designed to protect those on benefits.
But she said: This will not be an easy job while we do not have the full levers of power, but I am determined we take on the challenge of making a generational change for those areas that have been in poverty for too long.” Ferguslie Park, Paisley. Carntyne West and Haghill, Glasgow City.
North Barlanark and Easterhouse South (Area 1), Glasgow City.
Old Shettleston and Parkhead North, Glasgow City. Nitshill, Glasgow City. Muirhouse, Edinburgh. Possil Park, Glasgow City. Cliftonville, North Lanarkshire.
Drumchapel North, Glasgow City.
Lower Whitecraigs and South Giffnock, East Renfrewshire. Midstocket, Aberdeen City Marchmont West (Area 1), City of Edinburgh. St Andrews South West, Fife. Comely Bank, Edinburgh. Joppa, City of Edinburgh Marchmont West (Area 2), City of Edinburgh Hilton, Aberdeen City. Kilmardinny East, East Dunbartonshire.
Bruntsfield, City of Edinburgh.