Document Number: MKC/25 NOTE ON COMMUTING TO AND FROM MILTON KEYNES. Summary • At the time of the 2001 Census over 38,000 people commuted into the Borough of Milton Keynes to work and over 22,000 people commuted out resulting in net in- commuting to Milton Keynes of over 16,000 people. Most workers to Milton Keynes come from Bedfordshire (including Luton) and Northamptonshire. Most out- commuters from Milton Keynes worked in Bedfordshire. • Milton Keynes has a high degree of self-containment in 2001 nearly 80% of the resident population in employment lived and worked within the Borough. • MKC believes the commuting figures that appear in a SEEDA report illustrating net in- commuting of 35,000 to Milton Keynes overstates the level of net in-commuting to the Borough. Department for Transport Tempro flows indicate net in-flows of 25,000 in 2009, a figure 10,000 lower than the SEEDA figure. • The population and the number of jobs in the Borough are expected to increase. The Council is aiming for more self–containment to increase the number and proportion of people living and working in the Borough and to reduce the amount of in and out commuting over time. Context The Spatial Vision for Milton Keynes in 2026 set out in the Core Strategy (October 2010, p.16) is to grow and develop Milton Keynes so that it becomes a major 21 st century city. By 2026, the population of the Borough will have grown to around 300,000 and the city will be among the UK’s twenty biggest cities in terms of population. An estimated two million people are expected to live within a 45 minutes travel time of the city. Milton Keynes is one of the core local authorities at the heart of the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) There will always be in and out-commuting from one local authority area to another but this is a consequence of economic growth and the choices people make. Milton Keynes has a high level of self-containment that is a high proportion of residents in employment who also work in the Borough of Milton Keynes. The Council is aiming for more self–containment to increase the number and proportion of people living and working in the Borough in the future. People commute to and from Milton Keynes for a wide variety of reasons such as • Lifestyle choice-live in the country but work in the city • Live in cheaper accommodation in Milton Keynes but work in high paid jobs in London etc. • Live in cheaper accommodation outside Milton Keynes e.g. Northampton but work in high paid jobs in Milton Keynes. • Generally speaking , people who work in lower skilled (and often less well paid jobs) do not commute as far as those working in higher skilled (and better paid) occupations since the cost of commuting represents a higher proportion of income for those on lower salaries. Additionally, people with higher skills often need to travel further in order to access employment which matches their skills. 1 The origin and destination of commuters to and from Milton Keynes is set out below. The source of this information is the 2001 Census Table 1: Commuting patterns into and out of Milton Keynes by Local Authority District in 2001. LOCAL AUTHORITY NET TRAVELLING AREA IN TO MK OUT OF MK TO MK South Northamptonshire 5226 977 4249 Northampton 3745 1339 2406 Wellingborough 1071 253 818 East Northamptonshire 706 96 610 Daventry 720 175 545 Kettering 323 67 256 Corby 93 66 27 Sub-total Northants 11,884 2,973 8,911 South Bedfordshire 3732 1566 2166 Bedford 3483 1614 1869 Mid Bedfordshire 3215 1767 1448 Luton 1491 1374 117 Sub-total Beds 11,921 6,321 5,600 Aylesbury Vale 4612 1844 2768 Chiltern 154 78 76 High Wycombe 136 217 -81 South Bucks 41 37 4 Sub-total Bucks 4,943 2,176 2,767 Rest of UK 9,714 10,763 -1,049 TOTALS 38462 22233 16229 Source: 2001 Census Table W107 Note: Due to ONS making adjustments to the data to protect confidentiality these figures may be slightly different to other commuting tables published by ONS. A negative figure indicates net out-commuting from Milton Keynes • The table above illustrates that over 38,000 people commuted into MK in 2001 and 22,000 commuted out with net in-commuting to MK of over 16,000. • The Borough of Milton Keynes has stronger links to Bedfordshire including Luton in the East of England region and Northamptonshire in the East Midlands region than to Buckinghamshire in the South East region. In-commuting to Milton Keynes from Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire in 2001 totalled around 12,000 with about 6000 people out-commuting from MK to Bedfordshire and 3,000 out-commuting from MK to Northamptonshire. In–commuting to Milton Keynes from Buckinghamshire was around 5000 with over 2000 people out-commuting from Milton Keynes to Buckinghamshire. 2 • In-commuting from Buckinghamshire to Milton Keynes was 4,943 of which the vast majority 4,612 people (93.3%) came from Aylesbury Vale district. Numbers out- commuting from MK to Aylesbury Vale was 1,844. • The number of in-commuters to Milton Keynes from Aylesbury Vale district at 4,612 is around 12% of the total number of in-commuters to MK (38462). The number of out- commuters from MK to Aylesbury Vale at 1844 is about 8.3% of the total number of out-commuters from MK (22233). Table 2 illustrates the main areas where in-commuters to Milton Keynes in 2001 come from. (Flows of over a 1000 people). Table 2: Main origin of in-commuters to Milton Keynes in 2001 Origin of Commuters to MK Number of Commuters 1.South Northamptonshire 5,226 2.Aylesbury Vale 4,612 3.Northampton 3,745 4.South Bedfordshire 3,732 5.Bedford 3,483 6.Mid-Bedfordshire 3,215 7.Luton 1,491 8.Wellingborough 1,071 Source: 2001 Census Table W107 Table 3 illustrates the main areas that out-commuters from Milton Keynes go to. (Flows of over a 1000 people) Table 3: Main destination of out-commuters from Milton Keynes in 2001 Destination of out -commuters from Number of Commuters MK 1.Aylesbury Vale 1,844 2.Mid Bedfordshire 1,767 3.Bedford 1,614 4.South Bedfordshire 1,566 5.Luton 1,374 6.Northampton 1,339 7.LB Westminster 1,110 Source: 2001 Census Table W107 3 Table 4: Commuting patterns into and out of Milton Keynes by Local Authority District in 2001. Commuting Commuting out into MK of MK Total of all destinations 39,435 23,253 Named local authority's are those with commuting numbers over 200 either in or out Commuting Commuting out into MK Percentage of MK Percentage Luton 1,538 3.9% 1,362 5.9% Mid Bedfordshire 3,331 8.4% 1,853 8.0% Bedford 3,514 8.9% 1,531 6.6% South Bedfordshire 3,878 9.8% 1,743 7.5% Huntingdonshire 510 1.3% 247 1.1% Dacorum 597 1.5% 716 3.1% North Hertfordshire 321 0.8% 90 0.4% St Albans 411 1.0% 336 1.4% Watford 81 0.2% 409 1.8% Daventry 739 1.9% 171 0.7% East Northamptonshire 703 1.8% 123 0.5% Kettering 369 0.9% 84 0.4% Northampton 3,621 9.2% 1,423 6.1% South Northamptonshire 5,410 13.7% 1,107 4.8% Wellingborough 1,063 2.7% 280 1.2% Aylesbury Vale 4,666 11.8% 1,938 8.3% Wycombe 117 0.3% 234 1.0% Cherwell 533 1.4% 258 1.1% Rugby 207 0.5% 72 0.3% City of London 0 0.0% 738 3.2% Brent 72 0.2% 213 0.9% Camden 78 0.2% 630 2.7% Hillingdon 141 0.4% 265 1.1% Islington 48 0.1% 279 1.2% Tower Hamlets 18 0.0% 228 1.0% City of Westminster 42 0.1% 1,068 4.6% Total 32,008 81.2% 17,398 74.8% Other 7,427 18.8% 5,855 25.2% Grand Total 39,435 100% 23,253 100% Source: 2001 Census Table W301 Note: In tables 4, 5 and 6 the numbers of commuters is slightly different from those shown in the previous tables. 4 Table 5: In –commuting by local authority area to Milton Keynes expressed as a proportion of total in–commuting flows in 2001. Origin of Commuters to MK Number of Percentage of in- Commuters commuting. 1.South Northamptonshire 5,410 13.7% 2.Aylesbury Vale 4,666 11.8% 3.South Bedfordshire 3,878 9.8% 4.Northampton 3,621 9.2% 5.Bedford 3,514 8.9% 6.Mid-Bedfordshire 3,331 8.4% 7.Luton 1,538 3.9% 8.Wellingborough 1,063 2.7% Total number of commuters 39,435 100% Source: 2001 Census Table W301 In Table 5 the number of in-commuters to MK from different local authority areas is ranked in proportion to the total number of commuters into the Borough. South Northants and Aylesbury are the first and second biggest origin points for in-commuters to Milton Keynes providing 13.7% and 11.8% of all in-commuters into the city. Table 6: Destination by local authority area of commuters from Milton Keynes expressed as a proportion of total out–commuting flows in 2001. Destination of Number of Commuters Percentage of out- Commuters from MK commuting 1.Aylesbury Vale 1,938 8.3% 2.Mid Bedfordshire 1,853 8.0% 3.South Bedfordshire 1,743 7.5% 4.Bedford 1,531 6.6% 5.Northampton 1,423 6.1% 6.Luton 1,362 5.9% 7.South Northamptonshire 1,107 4.8% 8.LB.