Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 December 2006 Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 Leicester Atherstone NORTH WARWICKSHIRE Nuneaton BOROUGH NUNEATON & BEDWORTH Birmingham Coleshill BOROUGH Bedworth Coventry RUGBY BOROUGH Rugby Kenilworth Redditch WARWICK DISTRICT Leamington Spa Warwick Studley Southam Alcester Stratford Wellesbourne STRATFORD-ON-AVON DISTRICT Evesham Shipston on Stour Banbury Based on Ordnance Survey Mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Warwickshire County Council Licence No. LA 076880, 2005 Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 Quality of Life in Warwickshire December 2006 An assessment of the state of Warwickshire using a range of economic, social, environmental and natural resource indicators. Contact: The Warwickshire Observatory Phone: 01926 418645 E-mail: [email protected] Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 Acknowledgements Thanks are due to all those organisations that have contributed data and commentary either directly or indirectly to this publication, including; • Warwickshire County Council Environment and Economy Directorate • Warwickshire County Council Children, Young People and Families Directorate • Warwickshire County Council Adult, Health and Community Services Directorate • Warwickshire Police • Warwickshire Investment Partnership • West Midlands Regional Observatory • South Warwickshire Primary Care Trust • Rugby Primary Care Trust • North Warwickshire Primary Care Trust • Office for National Statistics • Warwickshire Youth Offending Team • Connexions Coventry & Warwickshire • Warwickshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team • Swanswell Charitable Trust • North Warwickshire Borough Council • Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council • Rugby Borough Council • Stratford-on-Avon District Council • Warwick District Council • English Nature • Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs • Department for Communities and Local Government • Department for Transport • Department of Trade and Industry • National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory • Department for Work and Pensions • Severn-Trent Water • Environment Agency • Land Registry • Small Business Service • HBOS plc • VisitBritain • Coventry City Council • Learning & Skills Council, Coventry and Warwickshire • Heart of England Tourism • Stockholm Environment Institute • Barclays Bank Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 Contents Introduction 1 Headline Trends 2 The County in Context 5 Economic Indicators 9 Social Indicators 43 Environmental Indicators 103 Natural Resource Indicators 135 District Trends 153 Appendix A – Sources 165 Appendix B – Indicators & The Local Area Agreement 171 Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 Introduction Welcome to our seventh ‘Quality of Life in Warwickshire’ report. As in previous years, the report provides an easily accessible reference of how the quality of life in Warwickshire and its Districts compares with elsewhere, and also how quality of life in the County is changing over time. The purpose of the report remains to inform policy development, monitoring and review across the County, using a wide range of indicators. Previous reports have been welcomed and used by a variety of organisations and individuals across Warwickshire who are working to improve the social, economic and environmental well being and quality of life of the area. The focus of the report is on outcome indicators - those things that make a real difference to people’s daily lives. Importantly they include measures which reflect individuals’ own perceptions, for example their fear of crime, satisfaction with their neighbourhood as a place to live or with the County as a business location. Over the coming months we will be finalising our Local Area Agreement (LAA) in Warwickshire, and the ‘Quality of Life’ report provides a valuable context for the LAA, and will help in measuring how we are doing over the coming years. Appendix B links each of the indicators to the ‘blocks’ covered by the Local Area Agreement. ‘Quality of Life in Warwickshire’ is divided into four sections - Economic, Social, Environment, and Natural Resources. For each of the individual indicators, a brief description is given, with an assessment of the local performance. Each indicator is summarised in relation to Warwickshire’s performance over time and performance in relation to other areas. ‘Quality of Life in Warwickshire’ can be accessed on the web at www.warwickshire. gov.uk/qualityoflife. It is worth noting that the website also contains a much wider range of indicators than those that have been included in this report. These are now updated on an on-going basis, with the most up-to-date data always available in the indicators on the website. If you have any comments about the report or questions about the information within it, please contact Helen Crossling in the Warwickshire Observatory by phone (01926 418645), e-mail ([email protected]) or at the address below. John Deegan Strategic Director for Environment & Economy Warwickshire County Council Shire Hall Warwick CV34 4SX Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 1 Headline Trends Key Good performance Moderate performance Poor performance Information not available or not applicable at County level Indicator Trend Warwickshire Page over compared with time elsewhere Unemployment 10 Employment 16 Skills 18 Earnings 20 Benefit Claimants 22 Gross Value Added 25 Jobs in Warwickshire 29 Inward Investment 32 Business Viability 34 Economic Indicators Business Location 38 Housing Affordability 40 Tourism 42 Community Priorities 46 Community Well-being 48 Social Participation 50 Happiness 52 Healthy Living 54 Smoking Cessation 56 Substance Misuse 60 Perception of Anti-Social Behaviour 64 Youth Offending 66 Fear of Crime 69 Social Indicators Recorded Crime 71 Satisfaction with Health Services 73 Life Expectancy 76 Mortality Rates 78 Years of Life Lost 80 Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 2 Indicator Trend Warwickshire Page over compared with time elsewhere Pre-school Provision 82 Key Stage Attainment 84 GCSE Attainment 86 Lifelong Learning 87 School Leaver Destinations 92 Unauthorised Absence 95 Access to Key Services 96 Social Indicators Older People Helped to Live at Home 98 Unfit Homes 100 Air Quality 104 Flooding 107 Household Waste 109 Recycling & Composting 109 Road Traffic Volume & Congestion 112 Road Casualties 115 Cycling 118 Travel to School 120 Bus Journeys 122 Bus Service Satisfaction 124 Rights of Way 126 Environmental Indicators Parks & Green Spaces 129 Carbon Emissions 132 Water Consumption 136 Water Quality 138 Sites of Special Scientific Interest 141 Land Use 143 Local Nature Reserves 146 Natural Resources Biodiversity 148 Ecological Footprints 150 Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 3 Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 4 The County In Context Description Warwickshire lies to the south and east of the West Midlands conurbation and has strong links with Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham in the West Midlands region, and increasingly stronger links with the South East region. Despite the focus of population within the main towns of the County, a significant part of Warwickshire is rural in nature. Situated in a central location, several key strategic routes pass through the County. Key facts • The population of Warwickshire is 533,900 (mid-2005 estimate) • The population comprises 263,600 males and 270,400 females • Minority ethnic groups account for 4.4% of the population (2001 Census) • The area of Warwickshire is 763 square miles (1,979 square kms) • The average population density is 2.7 persons per hectare • Warwickshire County measures 48 miles north to south and 29 miles east to west at its maximum extent. • Warwickshire comprises five parliamentary constituencies – North Warwickshire, Nuneaton, Rugby & Kenilworth, Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick & Leamington. Warwickshire comprises five District/Borough areas: • North Warwickshire Borough • Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough • Rugby Borough • Stratford-on-Avon District • Warwick District Warwickshire County Council Quality of Life in Warwickshire 2006 5 Figure 1.1; Area and population, mid-2005 Area Population mid-2005 persons 2 Sq.miles Hectares Km estimates per km2 North Warwickshire 110 28,516 285 62,300 219 Nuneaton & Bedworth 30 7,898 79 120.700 1,528 Rugby 137 35,558 356 91,600 257 Stratford-on-Avon 377 97,657 977 119,000 122 Warwick 109 28,226 282 140,300 498 Warwickshire 763 197,855 1,979 533,900 270 Source: Mid-year population estimates, National Statistics. Warwickshire’s population has been growing for the past three decades, and the rate of growth has exceeded regional and national levels. The County is now home to 76,000 more people than at the start of the 1970’s. Growth has been particularly rapid in recent years with continued in-migration from the urban areas of Coventry and Birmingham the key factor behind this trend. Figure 1.2; Population change, 1971 – 2005 (thousands) 1971 - 2005 1971 1981 1991 2001 2005 change North Warwickshire 58.4 60.0 61.0 61.8 62.3 6.7% Nuneaton & Bedworth 107.9 113.9 117.5 119.2 120.7 11.9%