Sandwell’s Changing PopulationCllr Steve Eling

Deputy Leader of the Council Cabinet Member for Strategic Resources

Cllr Simon HackettCabinet Member for Children & Families

Chair of Strategic Intelligence Group

Melanie DudleyDirector – Improvement and Efficiency

express briefing @ 8

Why is Census data important?• Provides an in-depth awareness of the local

area and the likely needs of local people –crucial to planning and running public services.

• Comparison of areas and groups is vital for targeting interventions and also critical when we are bidding for funding.

• Helps the Government to calculate the grants it allocates to us– in particular formula grant.

Headlines• Sandwell’s population is just over 308,000 - increasing by

just over 25,000 (8.9%) since 2001 – second highest increase in the West Midlands and higher than national trend

• 15,000 more people (5.2%) than the Mid Year Estimates for 2010

• Just over a third of our population are young people aged under 24 – an increase of 12,000 since 2001

• Aged 85+ increased by 28% (1,300 people) since 2001

• Diverse community – 70% white, 20% Asian and 10% other ethnic groups

Population by Age 2001 ‐ 2011

05000

100001500020000250003000035000400004500050000

0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90+

2001

2011 Population Change by Age  2001 ‐ 2011

‐4000

‐2000

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

0‐9

10‐1

9

20‐2

9

30‐3

9

40‐4

9

50‐5

9

60‐6

9

70‐7

9

80‐8

9

90+

‐25‐15‐551525354555

Number

Percentage

• 77% of Sandwell residents describe themselves as being in good or very good health.

• 5% of those of working age with long term illness say their activities are limited a lot

• 11% of Sandwell residents provide care to others

Improving Health Excellent Care for Adults

General Health 2011 (residents own assessment on a 5 point scale)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Verygood

Good Fair Bad Very bad

Sandwell England & Wales

Adult Care & Health: Key Impacts

• Lifestyle and prevention services • Personalised budgets• Tailoring services to meet needs of an elderly

population e.g. less mobile, dementia, intensive care• Need for Extra Care housing• Support to carers• Community support – Friends and Neighbours

Investing in businesses, people and jobs

• 35% of Sandwell residents aged 16 and over have no qualifications

• 51% of our residents aged 16-74 are in employment – lower than the national figure

• Unemployment at just over 7% is higher than the national level of 4.4%

 Economic Status  Population Aged 16‐74

Self employed

Employed Part Time

Employed Full Time

Retired 

Looking After Home or Family 

Long‐Term Sick or Disabled

StudentOther

Unemployed

Regeneration: Key Impacts

• Continue to up-skill local people

• Creation of further employment

• Develop local places to work and shop

• Provide high quality leisure and entertainment for diverse population

Homes that meet people’s needs

• 30% of households are made up of one person

• 8,300 (7%) of households are classed as overcrowded

• 23% of households rent from the council

• Increase in private renting - extra 9,200 households since 2001.

Household Composition Comparison 2001 & 2011

0% 10% 20% 30%

Otherhouseholds

Lone parent withnon-dependent

children

Lone parentwith dependent

children

CohabitingCouple

Married Couple

One Person(non-pensioner)

Lone Pensioner

20112001

Housing: Key Impacts

• Use housing stock to better match needs

• Plan most effective use of building land

• Support people to buy houses

• Develop sheltered housing to meet demand

• Support people to cope with Welfare Reform

Our Children, Our Future

• Over 5,000 more children aged 0-5 in 2011 than in 2001

• Over a fifth of our population (21.5%) are aged 15 or under

• Overall this could lead to a bright future for Sandwell –young people are the key to the regeneration of the borough

Children’s Services – Key Impacts

• Early years help - readiness for school• Parenting support where needed• Improve children’s health• Plan required number of school places• Help support working parents • Tackle the causes of child poverty

Conclusions• Census data illustrates a number of practical policy

challenges

• Local Authorities cannot continue to provide all the services – local communities need to be supported to develop their own answers

• Increase in population has implications for land use planning, housing, infrastructure, competition for jobs

• On a positive note, increased population means an increased allocation of funding for Sandwell and a larger council tax base.

Sandwell Trends

• Sandwell Trends has dedicated topic page for census

• Analysis of latest data by towns and wards

• Interactive database tool for census data

www.sandwelltrends.info/Research Sandwell, Improvement & Efficiency Directorate