Data shows most deprived areas in Braintree district

The figures come as part of a more detailed set of results from the snapshot of England and Wales captured in March last year.

As part of the 2021 census, households in England and Wales were classified in terms of four different "dimensions of deprivation", which are based on certain characteristics.

The first is where any member of a household, who is not a full-time student, is either unemployed or long-term sick, and the second covers households where no person has at least five or more GCSE passes or equivalent qualifications, and no 16 to 18-year-olds at the home are full-time students.

The third dimension is where any person in the household has general health that is “bad” or “very bad” or has a long-term health problem, and the fourth is where the household’s accommodation is either overcrowded or is in a shared dwelling, or has no central heating.

Office for National Statistics data shows 50 per cent of households in Braintree were deprived in at least one of these "dimensions" when the most recent census was carried out.

It meant the area stood below the average across England and Wales​, of 51.7 per cent. ​It also represented a drop from 53.9 per cent at the time of the last census in 2011.

A further breakdown reveals which of the area's 18 neighbourhoods were most affected by deprivation last year.

In Braintree, the three areas with the highest deprivation rates were Bocking, where 60.3 per cent of households here were deprived in at least one dimension at the time of the 2021 census, down from 64.7 per centre in 2011, West Witham with 58.8 per cent, ​falling from 62.3 per cent in 2011 and Halstead Central and West with 56.3 per cent, a drop from 60.3per cent in 2011

By contrast, the neighbourhood with the lowest level of deprivation was Braintree West and Rayne, at 43 per cent of households.

The ONS said deprivation is a "complex topic", adding that more detailed information would come in future releases.