New research has highlighted lessons for policy-makers to be learned in targeting funds for rural regeneration.The Economic and Social Research Council has found that an initiative begun by the previous Government but still operating, has resulted largely in disappointment and division within communities. 

The Government says latest information on households on below average incomes backs up the urgent need for its New Deal policies.The Households Below Average Incomes (HBAI) report is the main source of official statistics on those with low incomes.
The latest issue shows that while average real incomes have increased by a little over 40% since 1979, those at the top of the scale have experienced much greater rises than those at the bottom.