Hertfordshire Matters A needs analysis report for Hertfordshire Community Foundation 1 Contents Population profile ...................................................................................................................... 5 Deprivation and inequality ...................................................................................................... 14 Vulnerable groups .................................................................................................................... 26 Housing and homelessness ...................................................................................................... 39 Health, wellbeing and disability ............................................................................................... 50 Crime and safety ...................................................................................................................... 66 Strong communities ................................................................................................................. 72 Education, skills and training ................................................................................................... 78 Work and the local economy ................................................................................................... 84 Access to services and public spaces, arts and culture ........................................................... 92 Environment............................................................................................................................. 97 2 Introduction This report brings together a range of socio-economic data to provide a profile of the key needs and challenges across Hertfordshire. In the following sections, the key issues experienced by communities in Hertfordshire are explored under the following themes: 1. Deprivation and Inequality • The population profile • Deprivation and inequality • Vulnerable groups 2. Place • Housing and homelessness • Health, wellbeing and disability • Crime and safety • Strong communities 3. Education and Work • Education skills and training • Work and the local economy 4. Society • Access to services and public places, arts and culture • Environment In each of the themes, a series of relevant open datasets are analysed and compared across Hertfordshire county (benchmarked against the national and regional average), each of the 10 districts in Hertfordshire, each of the major towns in Hertfordshire1 (with a population of greater than 10,000) and Lower layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs)2. The key story is summarised at the top of each section, while details of the socio-economic indicators used in the analysis are provided in Appendix A. Appendix B provides a more detailed exploration of vulnerable groups across Hertfordshire. 1 The definition of towns used in this report is based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) 2011 Census built-up areas geography. 2011 Census built-up areas geography are defined based on the contiguous boundaries of the villages, towns and cities where people live, and allows comparisons between people living in built-up areas and those living elsewhere. See https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/ref/builtupareas_userguidance.pdf for more details of how these are defined. 2 LSOAs are a statistical geography developed as part of the 2001 Census to publish data for equally sized small area neighbourhood geographies of approximately 1,500 people. 3 Executive summary While Hertfordshire is on the whole an affluent county, benefiting from a relatively strong economy and good transport links with London, there is strong evidence of high levels of inequality across the county. There are 45 neighbourhoods across the county ranked among the most deprived 30% in England on the Indices of Deprivation 2019. In total, 96,000 people living in the county are identified as income deprived on the Indices of Deprivation 2019 (either receiving means tested benefits or with earnings of below 60% of the median income), 43,000 people have been identified as employment deprived3 (people who are involuntarily excluded from the labour market due to unemployment or work limiting illness) and more than 25,000 children are identified as living in poverty across the county (based on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index). Moreover, there is some evidence to suggest that deprivation is increasing across Hertfordshire relative to other parts of the country, with a higher proportion of areas ranked among the most deprived in the most recent iteration of the Indices of Deprivation compared to previous Indices. This reflects the trend of rising unemployment levels in parts of the county, with unemployment rates in Watford and Stevenage increasing at a faster rate than the national average. Another notable negative trend is the rise in homelessness across the county, with a 96% increase in statutory homelessness across Hertfordshire and a 165% increase in homeless households in temporary accommodation since 2011. Broxbourne is ranked among the top 10 districts in England with the highest levels of homelessness. Population growth has outstripped increase in housing supply across the county with the population growing by 5.8% while the housing stock increased by 4.9% between 2009 and 2018 and there are now 18,500 households on the housing waiting list. There is a lack of affordable housing across the county, with house prices in nine of the 10 districts higher than the national average. There are large disparities in outcomes across the major towns in Hertfordshire, with Waltham Cross showing worse outcomes than the national average on a wide range of socio-economic indicators. Other towns with particular challenges include Borehamwood (which has a higher proportion of people in receipt of benefits (particularly those related to long-term illness, higher levels of overcrowding than the national average, as well as containing the most deprived neighbourhood in the county); Stevenage (which experiences relatively high levels of violent crime, higher proportions of people receiving disability benefits and relatively low levels of pupil attainment and pupils entering higher education); Hatfield (which experiences relatively high levels of premature mortality, household overcrowding and low car ownership) and Cheshunt which experiences poor educational outcomes for children and adults alike. Even in relatively affluent rural districts, there are particular local issues with issues around poor-quality housing and low levels of home energy efficiency leading to risks of fuel poverty identified as an issue in parts of rural East Hertfordshire. Drilling down further to neighbourhood level reveals further pockets of the county experiencing acute challenges – in one LSOA in the Cowley Hill area of Borehamwood one-in-three residents are income deprived (rising to 40% among children) and one-in-four adults are out of work. A strong evidence base can be used to better understand the diverse and distinct nature of socio-economic challenges occurring in different parts of Hertfordshire and ensure appropriate resources are being targeted to areas with the greatest specific needs. It is also interesting to compare levels of need with current levels of programmes and interventions in these areas. It is interesting to note, that current data on grant funding collated by 360 Giving to shows that the areas with the highest levels of need are not necessarily the areas receiving the highest levels of funding from major national grant funders4, with Stevenage and Broxbourne receiving lower levels of grant funding than would be expected given overall levels of need in these areas. 3 Indices of Deprivation (IoD) 2019 Employment domain, MHCLG 4 These figures exclude Grant Funding from Community Foundations so do not include grants submitted by Hertfordshire CF 4 Deprivation and Inequality Population profile Population size, structure and composition are crucial elements in any attempt to identify, the characteristics and challenges in a community. Looking at trends and patterns in population gives us a better picture of an area’s demographic characteristics from which to frame further exploration of local needs. Key facts and figures in Hertfordshire The total population in Hertfordshire in 2018 was 1,184,365 a 5.8% increase since 2011 (compared to a 5.4% increase across England). Hertfordshire is showing greater growth of children and working-age populations than other areas across England. However, the fastest projected rate of growth is seen among the over 65s across each of the districts in Hertfordshire. Population is growing at a faster rate across Hertfordshire than the England average and it is already the most densely populated non-urban county in England with 7.2 persons per hectare, compared with 3.2 in the East of England and 4.3 for England. On the other hand, certain areas in East and North Hertfordshire are made up of predominantly rural Output Areas. The majority of Hertfordshire’s population were born in England, but the county also has a relatively high proportion of people born in EU member countries, particularly in Watford and Broxbourne. Most people living in Hertfordshire are of White ethnicity, with a slightly higher proportion of White Irish and Other White non-British ethnicity groups than the England average. Whilst a lower proportion of the population are from ethnic minority groups across Hertfordshire, a number of towns have very high proportions of people in ethnic minority groups -