FIGURES recently published by the Scottish Government show parts of the county are among the most deprived areas in Scotland.

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) report illustrates an East Lothian of contrasting communities.

Some parts of Tranent and Prestonpans fall within the bottom 20 per cent of the most deprived areas, while North Berwick and Gullane are rated as among the least deprived parts of the country.

Iain Gray, East Lothian MSP, told the Courier he hoped East Lothian Council’s poverty commission could help “explore the root causes of deprivation locally and identify new ways of tackling it”.

He added: “If we are serious about cutting the gap between the richest and the rest we need to fully understand the picture of poverty and how some communities are locked into a cycle of deprivation. These numbers can contribute to our understanding of the problem, although they mostly confirm what we know already.

“Parts of Prestonpans and Tranent continue to experience high levels of poverty, despite the many positive local and national initiatives that have been undertaken to try and reduce it over recent years.

“I hope that the poverty commission will come up with new ideas for overcoming poverty and creating new opportunities for people in East Lothian to escape the cycle of deprivation, especially our young people.”

George Kerevan, the county’s MP, said: “The single most important move to reduce deprivation is for East Lothian Council to build more affordable homes – and quickly. With interest rates at near zero, it is easy for the council to build houses. I call on the Labour-Conservative administration in East Lothian to initiate a masterplan to build hundreds more houses in the county.

“Of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas, East Lothian is thankfully 27th in the ranking of the most deprived areas. Only one person in 20 in Scotland’s poorest families resides in the constituency, but even that is far too many.”

Jason Rose, a Scottish Greens activist, tweeted: “My home town, Tranent, still among most deprived areas of Scotland. Action on jobs, skills and health well overdue.”

Ferguslie Park in Paisley was identified as the area with the greatest level of deprivation in Scotland – for the second consecutive occasion in the SIMD report, published every four years. Lower Whitecraigs in East Renfrewshire is the least deprived area.

Statisticians rate almost 7,000 areas in Scotland on various factors, including income, employability and health.