A NEW report on Helensburgh and Lomond's primary schools reveals that the spread of 'haves' and 'have-nots' is wider in the local area than anywhere else in Argyll and Bute.

According to the report, just under one in ten pupils at Helensburgh and Lomond's schools are in the two most deprived measurement zones – or deciles – in the Scottish Index on Multiple Deprivation, while slightly more than one in four – 26.5 per cent – are in the SIMD's two 'least deprived' deciles.

The results of the most recent SIMD survey, published last August, revealed that the most-deprived and least-deprived geographical data zones in the whole of Argyll and Bute were located just a few streets away from each other in central Helensburgh.

The SIMD data measures a range of poverty indicators, including income, employment, health, education/skills, housing, crime and geographical access to services.

This week's new report – considered by local councillors at Tuesday night's meeting of the Helensburgh and Lomond area committee – states that 54 pupils in Helensburgh and Lomond were in the most deprived decile in Argyll and Bute, with 111 pupils in the second most deprived and 117 in the third.

Only three areas – Helensburgh and Lomond, Bute, and Cowal – had any pupils at all in the most deprived decile.

At the other end of the scale, however, 109 Helensburgh and Lomond pupils were in the least-deprived decile – one which included only a single other pupil anywhere else in Argyll and Bute.

The report also covers two other poverty indicators in Argyll and Bute's schools – the number of pupils eligible for a clothing and footwear grant and for free school meals.

The number of pupils in Helensburgh and Lomond receiving a clothing and footwear grant fell from 242 in 2012-13 – and from a peak of 287 a year later – to 208 in the current year.

That represents 11.8 per cent of the total school roll in the area, and slightly more than a quarter of all the pupils receiving such grants in all of Argyll and Bute.

The number of local pupils eligible for free school meals in the Helensburgh and Lomond area has also declined, from 211 five years ago – and a peak of 225 in 2013-14 – to 174 this year, or 9.9 per cent.

In a similar vein to the clothing and footwear grants, the number of Helensburgh and Lomond pupils eligible for free school meals makes up slightly more than a quarter of all the pupils who are eligible across Argyll and Bute.