To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's press release of 14 October 2009, on Connecting Communities, what criteria were used to determine the allocation of funding to neighbourhoods. (313810)

Connecting Communities neighbourhoods have been identified by examining a range of hard and soft data around cohesion, deprivation and crime, perceived unfairness in the allocation of resources and feedback from people working locally. The funding allocated to each neighbourhood is based on the individual plans that they have drawn up which focus on giving people a bigger say in local issues, addressing specific local concerns and increasing access to local services and opportunities.