Wokingham is in the top two least deprived areas in England, according to the latest ONS data. 

Just 4.4 per cent of the Wokingham population is income deprived, meaning the borough is 315th out of the total 316 local authorities. 

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Overall, there are 32,844 statistical neighbourhoods in England, known as lower layer super output areas (LSOA’s).  

Of the 99 neighbourhoods in Wokingham borough none were among the 20 per cent most income deprived. In contrast, 70 of the 99 neighbourhoods were in the 20 per cent least income deprived areas. 

Wokingham Council Leader, John Halsall, said: "Having the lowest level of deprivation means that we have the least funding. We are trying to manage these areas so that the residents are not in future deprived."

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Local authorities with a less income deprived profile tend to be situated in-land, with a mix of rural and urban characteristics.  

Many of these areas are located in the south of England, including the three least deprived areas of the country – Hart, Wokingham and South Northamptonshire.

Bracknell News: Wokingham income disparity, ONS dataWokingham income disparity, ONS data

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Whilst these figures make good reading for the borough, the looming cost of living crisis has the potential to drag more residents into income deprivation. 

Wokingham MP, John Redwood, said: “March 23 needs to be a full budget to tackle the cost of living crisis. A few pence off petrol would not be enough. Tackle NI, VAT on energy saving products (and) VAT on fuel.” 

"We are very mindful of hardship and are working on it with our hardship alliance", said Cllr Halsall.

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The ONS data also shows the deprivation gap within the area, meaning the difference between the least and most deprived regions of the borough. 

In the least deprived area of Wokingham, 1.1 per cent of people are estimated to be income deprived, compared to 17.4 per cent of people in the most deprived neighbourhood.  

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Therefore, the disparity gap between the two is 16.3 per cent. The ONS states that this small gap may imply that income deprivation levels are evenly spread throughout the local authority, rather than concentrated in a few neighbourhoods.