Halton Vitality Index 2010

Halton Vitality Index (HVI) is a new index developed to allow regular monitoring of deprivation at a neighbourhood level January 2011

Table of Contents 1.0: An introduction to the Halton Vitality Index ...... 2 2.0: Results of the latest Halton Vitality Index...... 4 3.0: What next?...... 7 Appendix A: HVI methodology ...... 8 Appendix B: All HVI ranks – May 2009 to May 2010...... 9 Appendix C: Time-periods of the 13 indicators used in the Halton Vitality Index, May 2009 to May 2010...... 11

Research & Intelligence Unit - 1 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 1.0: An introduction to the Halton Vitality Index The Halton Vitality Index (HVI) has been developed by the Council’s Research & Intelligence Unit to enable monitoring of deprivation at a neighbourhood level to take place and to assess whether the gap between the most and least deprived neighbourhoods is narrowing across the borough.

Why not just use the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)? The IMD is a useful tool as it is available for all local authorities in England, however….. • It is not updated on a regular basis – the last being published in 2007 and there are no plans to publish a new one. • The data used is often a couple of years out of date, for example in the 2007 IMD the data used often refers to 2005. • The methodology and data used changes each time and so it is very difficult to measure changes over time.

It is important to note the HVI is different to the IMD and whilst the two have been compared by the Research and Intelligence Unit to test whether the HVI looks plausible, the HVI and IMD should not be directly compared.

The aim of this report is to give some background on the Halton Vitality Index, and explain why and how it has been developed. The HVI is based on a project by the Tees Valley Joint Strategic Unit and uses a methodology which has been developed and tested by their team. The work by Tees Valley has been very successful and identified as best practice by the Audit Commission.

It is important that the data used in the HVI is readily available, up to date and perhaps most importantly, regularly updated. It is planned that a report will be produced annually, starting with this report which looks at the trends in the HVI over the last 12 months and attempts to monitor whether the gap is being closed. However the data, where possible, will be updated quarterly so users of the HVI can get access to the current situation.

Table 1.1 shows the 13 indicators that have been used to produce the HVI 2010. The indicators were chosen due to the following reasons:

• Aim to include a limited number of indicators covering a range of relevant issues • Data available at a significant level to enable small area - Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) - comparisons • The data had to be easily available to the Research & Intelligence unit • The indicators used should updated at least annually

Each of the 13 indicators used are standardised, which results in each indicator having an average score of 10. The scores are added together to produce an overall score, therefore an ‘average’ area has a score of 130. A more detailed methodology is available in Appendix A.

Research & Intelligence Unit - 2 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 Table 1.1: Details of the 13 indicators used in the Halton Vitality Index Theme Data Definition Source Relative House Using average house price of LSOA*, with Up My Price Halton average as a base (Halton=100) Street Housing Council Tax Council Tax % of properties within Council Tax Band A Band A Register % working age pop claiming JSA (average of Unemployment last 12 months JSA claimant counts) - rolling Nomis rate Unemployment 12 months data & Income Working Age % working age pop receiving key benefits1 Benefit (average of last 4 quarters' counts) - rolling 12 Nomis Recipients months data Co-Star Burglaries by No of burglaries in households crimes as a rate Cheshire households per 1,000 households - rolling 12 months data Community Police Safety Co-Star Anti-Social No of ASB incidents as a rate per 1,000 Cheshire behaviour population - rolling 12 months data Police GCSE 5+ A*-C % of pupils achieving 5+ GCSE's at grades A* inc Eng and HBC to C including English and Maths Education Maths % 16-18 year olds Not in Employment, NEET Connexions Education or Training (NEETs) % of total pop claiming Attendance Allowance People needing Dept Work & or Disability Living Allowance (average of last 4 care Pensions Health quarters' counts) - rolling 12 months data Standard Halton & St Standard Mortality Ratio (Halton=100) Mortality Ratio Helens PCT Long-term Council Tax % households vacant for more than 6 months vacancy Register No. of criminal damage to dwelling crimes plus Co-Star / Sustainable Physical no. of deliberate fires as a rate per 1,000 Cheshire Communities environment households - rolling 12 months data Fire Population % total population change from previous years ONS change estimate to latest years estimate

*The results of the HVI will be available at Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) geography. These are areas that are smaller than wards and tend to have a population of around 1,500. There are 79 in Halton.

1Key benefits include Job Seekers Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance (Incapacity Benefit), Lone Parents and Others on income related benefits.

A list of the time-periods covered for each of the 13 indicators used to create the HVI is available in Appendix C.

Research & Intelligence Unit - 3 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 2.0: Results of the latest Halton Vitality Index Map 2.1 shows the scores for the Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) across Halton from the latest Halton Vitality Index (May 2010). The red areas are the more deprived areas according to the HVI whilst the dark green areas are the least deprived.

Map 2.1: Halton Vitality Index scores for LSOAs in Halton, May 2010

Kingsway ward contains the most deprived LSOA whilst Birchfield ward contains the least deprived LSOA.

Map 2.2 highlights, in red, the 10 most deprived LSOAs from the HVI and in green the 10 least deprived LSOAs. This is to help narrow down the areas in need of most and least improvement.

Research & Intelligence Unit - 4 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 Map 2.2: Top 10 most and least deprived LSOAs according to the HVI, May 2010

The HVI has been monitored on a quarterly basis since May 2009. Table 2.1 shows how the 10 most deprived LSOAs from the latest HVI have changed in rank from the HVI in May 2009.

Table 2.1: The 10 most deprived LSOAs from the HVI May 2010, compared to their HVI ranks from May 2009. Rank (1 = most deprived) LSOA Ward LSOA falls in HVI rank (May 2010) HVI rank (May 2009) E01012424 Kingsway 1 3 E01012381 Halton Castle (Castlefields) 2 1 E01012367 Appleton 3 2 E01012441 Riverside 4 4 E01012382 Halton Castle (Castlefields) 5 7 E01012422 Hough Green 6 8 E01012391 Ditton 7 5 E01012442 Riverside 8 19 E01012430 Mersey 9 14 E01012420 Hough Green 10 10 The ranks for all 79 LSOAs in Halton can be found in Appendix B.

Research & Intelligence Unit - 5 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 The most deprived LSOA in Halton wa s ranked the 3rd most deprived 12 months ago, according to the HVI. A range of factors appear to contribute to the deprivation in this LSOA, including high levels of unemployment and a large number of deliberate fires and criminal damage to dwellings. However, the largest contributory factor appears to be anti-social behaviour, with this LSOA showing the second highest rate of anti-social behaviour in Halton.

When looking at how areas within Halton have changed over the last 12 months: • The most improved LSOA over the period is E01012387 in Daresbury ward which improved from a rank of 60th most deprived (out of 79) in May 2009 to 77th most deprived in May 2010. This is almost entirely due to improved GCSE pass rates. • The least improved LSOA over the period is E01012436 in Norton South ward which fell from a rank of 39th most deprived (out of 79) in May 2009 to 23rd most deprived in May 2010. This is mainly due to an increase in the number of burglaries and a worsened standard mortality ratio in 2010.

Using the LSOA scores it is possible to calculate a ward average. Table 2.2 shows how the wards rank within Halton (with 1 being the most deprived) and how these ranks have changed from the HVI in May 2009.

Table 2.2: Average ward scores and ranks from the HVI May 2010 May 2009 Ward HVI Score HVI Rank HVI Score HVI Rank Riverside 153 1 149 2 Windmill Hill 146 2 152 1 Halton Castle (Castlefields) 144 3 147 3 Mersey 141 4 138 6 Halton Lea 140 5 139 5 Appleton 140 6 139 4 Kingsway 138 7 136 7 Broadheath 136 8 134 11 Norton South 135 9 135 10 Hough Green 135 10 134 12 Ditton 134 11 135 8 Grange 133 12 135 9 Halton Brook 130 13 130 13 Halton View 125 14 127 14 Hale 122 15 120 15 Norton North 120 16 119 16 Heath 118 17 114 18 Farnworth 112 18 115 17 Beechwood 109 19 106 21 Daresbury 104 20 109 19 Birchfield 103 21 106 20

Research & Intelligence Unit - 6 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 Riverside ward is the most deprived ward according to the HVI, with Birchfield being the least deprived ward in May 2010. Comparing the HVI scores with 12 months ago, the ward which has improved the most is Windmill Hill ward (going from a score of 152 in May 2009 to 146 in May 2010), although this ward still remains the second most deprived in Halton. The ward which has declined the most is Heath (going from a score of 114 in May 2009 to 118 in May 2010). 3.0: What next?

This annual report, and future reports, will be made available from the research section of Halton Borough Council’s website:

www.halton.gov.uk/research

This report has established a baseline and change over the last 12 months, future reports will continue to concentrate on identifying the most deprived areas in Halton and monitor all areas across time.

• Although the report takes an annual snapshot, the HVI will be updated on a quarterly basis when new data becomes available, the results of which are available via the link below: http:// w ww2.halton.gov.uk/pdfs/councilanddemocracy/research/HaltonVitalityI ndexData.xls

Or contact the Research and Intelligence Unit for further information on the Halton Vitality Index: Website: www.halton.gov.uk/research E-mail: [email protected]

Research & Intelligence Unit - 7 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 Appendix A: HVI methodology The methodology used is based on the Tees Valley Joint Strategic Unit methodology and they have kindly shared it with Halton’s Research and Intelligence unit.

The indicators have already been identified in Table 1.1 in the main report and are based on data that has already been used in the Tees Valley work.

Standardising The indicators used are not on the same scale, for example ASB is a rate per 1,000 population, where as GCSE results are a %. Therefore all the indicators are standardised, using Z-scores, which is a long recognised method for comparing different types of information, so they have a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1. To make the scores easier to understand for a wider audience, the numbers were further transformed to make them larger and to eliminate negative numbers.

The formula used:

Indicator = 10 + 2 * (z-score(indicator))

No weightings were applied so each indicator is equal in the calculation of the overall HVI.

Research & Intelligence Unit - 8 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 Appendix B: All HVI ranks – May 2009 to May 2010 Rank (1=most deprived) May Aug Nov Feb May HVI LSOA Ward LSOA falls in 2009 2009 2009 2010 2010 Score E01012424 Kingsway 3 3 4 4 1 162.7 E01012381 Halton Castle (Castlefields) 1 1 2 3 2 162.7 E01012367 Appleton 2 2 1 1 3 162.5 E01012441 Riverside 4 4 3 2 4 160.7 E01012382 Halton Castle (Castlefields) 7 8 9 11 5 159.2 E01012422 Hough Green 8 6 5 5 6 158.8 E01012391 Ditton 5 5 6 6 7 153.3 E01012442 Riverside 19 16 15 10 8 153.0 E01012430 Mersey 14 15 18 17 9 150.4 E01012420 Hough Green 10 7 7 7 10 149.0 E01012444 Windmill Hill 12 13 13 9 11 148.7 E01012431 Mersey 21 21 19 18 12 148.3 E01012407 Halton Lea 16 17 16 15 13 148.2 E01012397 Grange 11 14 14 13 14 147.5 E01012377 Broadheath 29 25 28 23 15 146.7 E01012403 Halton Brook 18 19 17 14 16 145.9 E01012396 Grange 13 12 10 16 17 144.9 E01012412 Halton View 15 9 8 8 18 144.2 E01012443 Riverside 17 18 21 20 19 143.9 E01012380 Broadheath 20 20 20 21 20 143.8 E01012445 Windmill Hill 6 11 12 12 21 143.1 E01012438 Norton South 9 10 11 19 22 143.0 E01012436 Norton South 39 38 31 22 23 142.3 E01012370 Appleton 27 32 34 29 24 141.8 E01012408 Halton Lea 22 22 22 24 25 140.7 E01012417 Heath 38 35 35 31 26 140.5 E01012425 Kingsway 28 34 33 39 27 138.4 E01012419 Hough Green 30 27 29 30 28 137.9 E01012406 Halton Lea 42 42 41 37 29 136.4 E01012399 Grange 25 29 38 38 30 136.0 E01012409 Halton Lea 32 28 30 33 31 135.9 E01012433 Norton North 34 33 23 28 32 135.6 E01012439 Norton South 26 31 36 36 33 135.6 E01012437 Norton South 24 23 25 25 34 135.5 E01012390 Ditton 33 30 27 26 35 135.4 E01012413 Halton View 37 36 37 27 36 135.0 E01012379 Broadheath 40 39 42 44 37 134.9 E01012388 Ditton 23 24 26 35 38 133.7 E01012429 Mersey 35 37 32 32 39 133.2 E01012383 Halton Castle (Castlefields) 36 40 39 42 40 132.8 E01012402 Halton Brook 31 26 24 34 41 132.4 E01012428 Mersey 46 47 44 41 42 132.2 E01012368 Appleton 44 43 43 43 43 131.5 Halton E01012427 Kingsway 41 41 40 40 44 131.4 average E01012432 Norton North 48 48 47 47 45 126.0 = 130 E01012384 Halton Castle (Castlefields) 43 44 45 45 46 123.1 E01012369 Appleton 51 52 53 54 47 122.2 E01012401 Hale 53 53 54 52 48 121.6 E01012405 Halton Brook 52 51 52 50 49 121.2 E01012411 Halton View 47 45 46 46 50 120.7 E01012394 Farnworth 45 46 48 51 51 119.7 E01012440 Norton South 66 67 66 63 52 119.1 E01012404 Halton Brook 54 54 51 48 53 119.1

Research & Intelligence Unit - 9 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 Rank (1=most deprived) May Aug Nov Feb May HVI LSOA Ward LSOA falls in 2009 2009 2009 2010 2010 Score E01012423 Hough Green 58 55 56 55 54 119.1 E01012398 Grange 56 57 55 59 55 119.0 E01012400 Grange 50 50 49 53 56 118.6 E01012426 Kingsway 57 61 58 56 57 118.1 E01012378 Broadheath 49 49 50 49 58 117.2 E01012416 Heath 64 64 60 58 59 116.2 E01012371 Beechwood 74 74 75 65 60 115.7 E01012434 Norton North 69 70 69 70 61 115.3 E01012414 Halton View 62 62 63 62 62 113.5 E01012410 Halton View 63 60 57 61 63 112.3 E01012418 Heath 73 71 68 66 64 112.1 E01012389 Ditton 67 65 65 68 65 111.7 E01012392 Farnworth 55 58 61 64 66 110.7 E01012393 Farnworth 65 66 67 71 67 110.0 E01012421 Hough Green 61 59 62 60 68 109.0 E01012376 Birchfield 59 56 59 67 69 107.8 E01012395 Farnworth 70 68 70 73 70 107.6 E01012372 Beechwood 75 76 73 69 71 107.1 E01012373 Beechwood 76 73 74 75 72 105.5 E01012374 Birchfield 71 69 71 72 73 105.2 E01012415 Heath 77 77 77 77 74 104.8 E01012385 Daresbury 68 72 72 74 75 104.7 E01012386 Daresbury 78 78 78 78 76 104.2 E01012387 Daresbury 60 63 64 57 77 103.4 E01012435 Norton North 72 75 76 76 78 101.4 E01012375 Birchfield 79 79 79 79 79 97.5

Research & Intelligence Unit - 10 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11 Appendix C: Time-periods of the 13 indicators used in the Halton Vitality Index, May 2009 to May 2010 Theme Data May 2009 Aug 2009 Nov 2009 Feb 2010 May 2010 Relative House Apr 09 – Apr 09 – Apr 09 – Apr 09 – Apr 09 – Price Mar 10 Mar 10 Mar 10 Mar 10 Mar 10 Housing Council Tax Dec 09 Dec 09 Dec 09 Dec 09 Dec 09 Band A Unemployment Jun 08 – Sep 08 – Dec 08 – Mar 09 – Jun 09 – rate May 09 Aug 09 Nov 09 Feb 10 May 10 Unemployment Working Age & Income Aug 08 – Nov 08 – Feb 09 – May 09 – Aug 09 – Benefit May 09 Aug 09 Nov 09 Feb 10 May 10 Recipients Burglaries by Jun 08 – Sep 08 – Dec 08 – Mar 09 – Jun 09 – Community households May 09 Aug 09 Nov 09 Feb 10 May 10 Safety Anti-Social Jun 08 – Sep 08 – Dec 08 – Mar 09 – Jun 09 – behaviour May 09 Aug 09 Nov 09 Feb 10 May 10 GCSE 5+ A*-C inc Eng and 2008/09 2008/09 2008/09 2008/09 2009/10 Education Maths NEET Feb 10 Feb 10 Feb 10 Feb 10 Feb 10 People needing Aug 08 – Nov 08 – Feb 09 – May 09 – Aug 09 – care May 09 Aug 09 Nov 09 Feb 10 May 10 Health Standard Apr 07 – Apr 07 – Apr 07 – Apr 08 – Apr 08 – Mortality Ratio Mar 08 Mar 08 Mar 08 Mar 09 Mar 09 Long-term Oct 09 Oct 09 Oct 09 Oct 09 Oct 09 vacancy Sustainable Physical Jun 08 – Sep 08 – Dec 08 – Mar 09 – Jun 09 – Communities environment May 09 Aug 09 Nov 09 Feb 10 May 10 Population 2007/08 2007/08 2007/08 2007/08 2008/09 change

Research & Intelligence Unit - 11 - Halton Borough Council www.halton.gov.uk/research Jan 11