To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2008, Official Report, column 112W, on income: equality, what assessment he has made of trends in (a) national prosperity and (b) household income inequality in (i) England, (ii) the North East, (iii) Tees Valley district and (iv) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency. (195564)

The ONS publishes measures of regional gross value added (GVA) per head in current prices in the regional accounts publication. The lowest regional level available is the NUTS3 level (unitary authorities or districts). The published data show a significant increase in GVA per head in England, North East and Tees Valley since 1997. There are no published data for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland as they are below the NUTS3 level.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=7359

Currently there are no available statistics of household income inequality at regional level. Data at UK level are published by the DWP in “Households Below Average Income” and by the ONS in “The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income”. Available statistics show that the inequality at UK level has been stable since 1997.