The Story of Staffordshire In summary

2020

?

2009

Staffordshire hoard

discovered

913

Stafford town established

as capital of Mercia

1090

Stafford Castle

built

2015 1980

Alton Towers theme

park established

1945

JCB founded

1632

Boscobel House built

1390

Blithfield Hall

2015 Insight, Planning & Performance Team

Staffordshire County Council

2001

National Arboretum

Opened

1949

Drayton Manor Park

Opened

Title The Story of Staffordshire [SUMMARY VERSION] (2015)

Description The Story of Staffordshire’s role is to explore, in finer detail, what the opportunity to prosper, be healthy and

be happy really looks like in terms of outcomes for residents and in terms of our key measures.

This report seeks to highlight where there has been impact and success over the past three-five years that

needs to continue, where there are emerging challenges for us to overcome, and where there are new

opportunities that we can seize in the coming five years.

Date created 12th November 2015 - Final copy for circulation

Produced by Insight, Planning & Performance Team, Staffordshire County Council

Additional copies of this report and relevant companion and supporting literature can be obtained from;

http://www.staffordshireobservatory.org.uk

Contact Stuart Nicholls | Senior Research Officer

Tel: 01785 278409

Email: stuart.nicholls@staffordshire.gov.uk

Usage statement If you wish to reproduce this document either in whole, or in part, please acknowledge the source and the

author(s).

Copyright and disclaimer Staffordshire County Council, while believing the information in this publication to be correct, does not

guarantee its accuracy nor does the County Council accept any liability for any direct or indirect loss or

damage or other consequences, however arising from the use of such information supplied.

Mapping;

(C) Crown Copyright and database rights 2015. Ordnance Survey 100019422.

Story of Staffordshire

Document details

In recent years, Staffordshire has become an increasingly great place to live, work and to invest.

As a result, a growing majority of the 860,165 people currently estimated to be living in the

county are enjoying a good quality of life. This has been accomplished in spite of the substantial

challenges faced following the worst global recession since the 1930s. No mean feat.

We must also accept there is much more left to do. Every child in Staffordshire, for example,

deserves to attend a good or outstanding school, should expect to have the skills to land a high

quality job, and every family needs the encouragement to live healthy, happy and productive lives.

Additionally, one of the biggest challenges of our generation is to extend the healthy years of life

that Staffordshire’s residents are able to enjoy, in line with the improvements that medical science

is making in life expectancy. We will only achieve this with unprecedented partnership working

across health, local authorities, the voluntary sector amongst others.

We all know that there are some difficult decisions to be made, but there is a willingness to make

the necessary savings in as compassionate manner as possible, and to take advantage of new

opportunities to have greater control over our financial future.

I encourage colleagues and partners to consider the messages within this year’s Story of

Staffordshire, to ensure that the decisions we make over the next 12 months are insightful and

evidence led.

John Henderson

Chief Executive

Staffordshire County Council

Story of Staffordshire

Foreword

Welcome to the Story of Staffordshire 2015.

Staffordshire is a great place to live, work and invest. It offers terrific opportunities for people to

enjoy a good quality of life in safe and strong communities. Our county has a proud history with

bright hopes for the future. We enjoy a central England location with effective links to our major

cities which help to create jobs, growth and prosperity. Staffordshire is the largest economy in the

West Midlands outside Birmingham and has a strong record in economic growth and low

unemployment.

Working in partnership, there is a great deal that has been accomplished over the last four years–

an ever improving quality of life for local people, major investment programmes delivered to

secure future growth and jobs, as well as substantial changes to how we operate to make sure

that we can continue to deliver better outcomes for Staffordshire people, while managing the

ongoing financial pressures that we face.

In addition to what has already been achieved, we have a clear vision of an even brighter future

for Staffordshire - one of a connected county, where everyone has the opportunity to prosper, to

be healthy and enjoy life.

In short, we know that we have made great progress in recent years, but we also recognise that

there is even more that we can do for our residents.

However, we are facing significant challenges ahead, as we strive to balance the reducing amount

we have to spend with a growing demand for care and support for the elderly, vulnerable children

and those with a disability, along with the need to maintain our roads and build new schools.

We believe it is essential to work with partners and communities, sharing and supporting each

other to live fulfilling lives, with maximum independence and personal choice. We can then ensure

that we also continue to have affordable, relevant and sensible public services in the future.

Ian Parry

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member

for Strategy, Finance & Corporate Issues

Story of Staffordshire

Contents

Section Page(s)

Introduction 5

The journey between key measures 6

Staffordshire Now, Tomorrow and how we achieve more 7-9

- Accessing more good jobs and feeling the benefit of economic growth 7

- Healthier lifestyles & independent living 8

- Feeling safer, happier and more supported 9

Summary - Staffordshire Now 10

Summary - Staffordshire Tomorrow 11

Summary - Achieving more for Staffordshire 12

Story of Staffordshire

Achieving our vision

The Story of Staffordshire’s role in our vision, is to explore, in finer detail, what the

opportunity to prosper, be healthy and be happy, broadly look like for Staffordshire overall

in terms of outcomes for residents and in terms of our key measures.

We know that despite great challenge over the past five years, Staffordshire is an

increasingly great place to live, work and invest—with more and more of our residents

telling us that they are enjoying a good quality of life. We also know that much has changed

for Staffordshire in the last five years.

There is no doubt that looking ahead five years, to 2020, the Staffordshire of tomorrow,

will not be the same as it is today. Equally, there is no doubt that Staffordshire as it is now

is not the same as it was five years ago, in 2010.

We know that there are savings that will need to be made year-on-year for the foreseeable

future, not just in Local Government, but in the National Health Service (NHS) and across

the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)—all of which will have some impact on the

lives of our residents.

Around us, areas like the West Midlands and Greater Manchester are making agreements

for devolution and some transfer of legislative power and budgetary control from Central

Government—with agreements implemented to give greater control over local transport

as well as new planning powers to support regeneration and development. Although final

proposals are yet to be agreed, devolution for Staffordshire is becoming a clearer vision, as

all interested parties work through the challenges that could be better addressed locally

than from London.

As a democratically accountable organisation we need to provide strong leadership to all

partners from across the public, private and voluntary sector, whilst working effectively

with local communities to achieve a better quality of life for all.

To be effective in our role, we need to be focussed and committed, with a very clear

understanding of what it is that we want to achieve, and what impact we expect to see.

We know that the elements of our vision are interlinked. Understanding these links, and

how successes in one area of service can have a positive impact on several elements of our

vision, makes it possible to make decisions about where we can focus resource to achieve

the greatest level of overall positive impact for Staffordshire. This will bring us ever closer

to realising our vision for a Staffordshire which competes on the global stage economically,

where our residents are prosperous, healthy and happy.

Cannock Chase

Story of Staffordshire

The journey between key measures

Immunisations

Breast feeding Child obesity

Adult obesity

Diabetes

Long-term limiting illness

Dementia

Participation in

physical activity

Unable to complete

one domestic task

Hospital admissions

Avoidable mortality

Healthy life

expectancy

Permanent

admissions to care

Unpaid care

Super-fast broadband

Transport links

Free nursery places

Early Years

Foundation Stage

Key Stage 4

(GCSE)

Youth

Offending

Crime

& ASB

Feelings of safety

Personal happiness

Housing affordability

Median income

Employment

NEETs Unemployment NVQ3+

Apprenticeships

Skills &

qualifications

Business Start-ups Business Survival Business Growth Successful business

Connectivity

(Digital & physical)

Life

expectancy

Resident

Satisfaction

Gross Value

Added (GVA)

‘Accessing more good jobs and feeling the benefit of economic growth’

‘Healthier lifestyles & independent living’

‘Feeling safer, happier and more supported’

Child Protection

& Children in care

Key

Measure/indicator

These are the measures or indicators that we have used

in this report, or are referenced in current high-level

performance management. They have been positioned

where they sit in the journey towards our top-level

outcomes, with links joining them to other measures

which can have some influence on the performance we

see in that measure.

Direct link Partial link

A solid line with an arrow indicates that

there is a direct link between two measures

in the direction that the arrow shows; for

instance, medical knowledge tells us that

obesity can cause Type II diabetes, so

therefore we have a direct link between

Adult obesity and prevalence of Diabetes.

A dotted/feint line with an arrow indicates

that there is a partial link between two

measures in the direction that the arrow

shows; for instance, we assume that those

with criminal records find it harder to enter

employment, therefore there is a partial link

between Crime and Unemployment.

Staffordshire Now Accessing more good jobs and feeling the benefit of economic growth

Early Years

Foundation Stage

Key Stage 4

(GCSE)

Median income

Employment

NEETs

Unemployment

NVQ3+

Apprenticeships

Skills &

qualifications

Business Start-ups Business Survival Business Growth Successful business

Gross Value

Added (GVA)

Links to housing affordability

Free nursery

places

NOW. A greater proportion of 16 year olds in Staffordshire achieve five GCSEs

at grades A*-C (incl. English & Maths) than regionally and in England overall—

however, despite improvement across the last two academic years, there is still

some distance between Staffordshire and our statistical neighbour authorities.

TOMORROW. There are a number of young people at risk of low educational

outcomes who will need support in order to achieve as well as their peers.

NEXT Improve the life chances, learning opportunities, and long-term

employment prospects of young people by increasing proportions and numbers

achieving 5 A*-Cs at GCSE—focussing particularly on those who are at risk of

low-educational outcomes, and thus creating greater opportunity for upwards

social mobility.

NOW. A high proportion of younger adults (19-34 year olds) have

no formal qualifications.

TOMORROW. There is the potential that the implementation of

the Living Wage for over 25 year olds will harm the employment

opportunities and prospects of 25 and overs with no qualifications—

as they might be less desirable to employers than those <25 who they

can pay a lower wage.

NEXT Improving the life-chances and opportunities available to

those already within the workforce by providing greater scope for

those with no formal qualifications to upskill and gain relevant

qualifications—creating opportunities for greater upward mobility

within the workforce and overall social mobility, as well as off-setting

risks of Living Wage implementation in April 2016.

Opportunities to boost the economy

- Better qualifications will generate better employment opportunities and income for

residents, resulting in increased disposable income that can be spent locally, and reducing

the number of people on very low incomes needing state ‘top ups’ to make ends meet.

- Better levels of qualification will effect the desirability of the county as a location for new

and growing businesses to operate from, which in turn may result in increased levels of

business rates from new, growing and profitable business.

Staffordshire Now Healthier lifestyles & independent living

Immunisations

Breast feeding Child obesity

Adult obesity

Diabetes

Long-term limiting illness

Dementia

Participation in

physical activity

Unable to complete

one domestic task

Hospital admissions

Avoidable mortality

Healthy life

expectancy

Permanent

admissions to care

Unpaid care

Life

expectancy

Links to unemployment

NOW. Adults overweight/obese higher than national rates, with just under half

of adults participating in the recommended amount of weekly physical activity.

TOMORROW. The proportion of adults participating in the recommended

level of physical activity every week is in decline. This goes hand in hand with an

expected increase in the numbers of adults who are obese. Additionally there is

an expected ongoing increase in the proportion of the population being

diagnosed with Type II diabetes.

NEXT Improving life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, well-being and overall

life chances of adults in Staffordshire by supporting those at risk of poor health

outcomes as a result of obesity– diverting them away from potential life-limiting

and threatening complications, loss of independence and economic exclusion.

NOW. Almost 12% of our population (over 100,000 people) provide some

level of unpaid care to friends or family members—worth the equivalent of over

£1bn to the local economy.

TOMORROW. Based on increases in the population (in particular; the elderly

population) expected between now and 2020, to maintain the same proportion

of unpaid care provided, an additional 1,915 people will need to be providing

unpaid care.

NEXT Recognising the true value and contribution that unpaid carers bring to

the care sector by providing greater support and incentive to those who provide

unpaid care—so that they can provide better care, for longer—has the potential

to offset £millions in care costs every year.

NOW. Although life expectancy is higher than national and regional figures, the

healthy element of life expectancy in Staffordshire is lower than the national

expectation, particularly for men.

TOMORROW. Healthy life expectancy for men already falls below the pension

age. As the pension age increases and the healthy element of life expectancy falls,

this has significant implications for the workforce and for individual’s ability to

remain economically independent into later life.

NEXT Improving life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, well-being and overall

life chances of adults in Staffordshire by supporting those at risk of poor health

outcomes – diverting them away from potential life-limiting and threatening

complications, loss of independence and economic exclusion.

Opportunities to reduce demand for resource-intensive intervention and support;

- Reducing potential disability (as a result of obesity and Type II diabetes) which will in turn

reduce costs for care and housing adaptations, and potentially reduce additional housing benefit

and council tax subsidy for those who have been unable to work.

- Investing in equipping and supporting unpaid carers, so that the needs of their loved-ones can

be better met at home, keeping the elderly out of the care system (particularly residential care)

for longer.

Super-fast broadband

Transport links

Youth Offending

Crime

& ASB

Feelings of safety

Personal happiness

Housing affordability

Connectivity

(Digital & physical)

Resident

Satisfaction Links to unemployment

Staffordshire Now Feeling safer, happier and more supported

Child Protection

& Children in care

NOW. Demand for statutory Children’s Services is currently very high and not

slowing. With high number of children in care. This is a concern due to the

associated risk to life-chances for care-leavers.

TOMORROW. Demand for statutory Children’s Services is unlikely to fall

significantly in the short-term due to the length of time that interventions take

to complete.

NEXT Improve life chances and outcomes for the most vulnerable in society,

by using our growing understanding of the causal factors in Children’s Services

and Domestic Abuse to enable earlier identification of those at risk and offer

early intervention services. Potentially reducing some demand in late

intervention and statutory services.

NOW. Measures such as proportion of minimum wage jobs, low

qualifications, low healthy life expectancy and a related increase in unpaid

care pose a threat to overall well-being.

TOMORROW. If the implementation of the living wage increases

unemployment amongst unskilled 25 year olds, this may have a significant

impact on resident’s feelings of wellbeing and satisfaction.

NEXT Achieving success by improving opportunities for better

employment and prosperity, better health and independence, and feelings

of safety are all likely to have a positive effect on levels of resident

satisfaction.

NOW. Recorded crime is below that experienced regionally

and nationally.

TOMORROW. Cuts in funding from Central Government

to other public services such as Police and Fire services might

have an impact on residents feelings of safety, as well as levels

of crime and ASB.

NEXT Improve life chances and outcomes for the most

vulnerable in society, by using our growing understanding of

Offender’s needs to enable earlier identification of those at

risk and offer early intervention services.

Staffordshire Now

Impact and emerging challenge The bottom line for Staffordshire as it is right now, is a generally positive one, with

improvement across a number of key measures over the last five years, and several areas

where Staffordshire out-performs national and regional benchmarks.

In a number of areas of performance and service, Staffordshire is now doing better than it

was pre-recession, but with some areas of challenge that we need to consider. The next step

will be to apply the resourcefulness and hard work that has enabled improvement, to our

emerging areas of challenge.

Accessing more good jobs and feeling the benefit of economic growth: Our economic recovery from the recession has been broadly quite strong in terms of

employment and business survival, but productivity remains low. Around one in ten of those

aged between 19-34 have no qualifications at all.

- Lowest ever proportion of job-seeking adults.

- Higher median income than pre-recession and higher than the region, close to national.

- Business survival after five years is higher locally than the West Midlands and England.

Emerging challenge

- A greater proportion of 16 year olds in Staffordshire achieve five GCSEs at grades A*-C

(incl. English & Maths) than in the West Midlands and England overall—however, despite

improvement across the last two academic years, there is still some distance between current

performance and our statistical neighbour authorities.

- A high proportion of younger adults (19-34 year olds) have no formal qualifications.

- GVA per head is considerably lower than comparators despite good median incomes.

Healthier lifestyles & independent living: Health in Staffordshire is generally quite good, but with a few areas for improvement,

particularly when it comes to healthy lifestyles.

- Immunisation rates for children are almost as high as feasibly possible. Far higher than

national and regional comparators.

- Rate of child obesity at Year Six is slightly lower than the regional and national levels, but

shows an increase on the rate at reception age.

- Preventable mortality rates for all ages and those aged under 75 are lower than West

Midlands rates and rates for England– with a reduction at the same pace as the national level.

Emerging challenge

- Adults overweight/obese higher than national rates, with just under half of adults

participating in the recommended amount of weekly physical activity.

- Although life expectancy is higher than national and regional figures, the healthy element of

life expectancy in Staffordshire is lower than the national expectation, particularly for men.

Feeling safer, happier and more supported: The majority of residents in Staffordshire report that they feel safe whether it is daytime or

night, and overall rates of crime and Anti-Social Behaviour per person have decreased in the

long term, staying below national and regional levels. However, there are an increasing number

of children who require statutory intervention to ensure that they are safe from harm.

- Residents consistently feel safe both in daylight hours and at night.

- Crime and ASB in general have reduced.

- Housing in Staffordshire has become, overall, more affordable in the last four years, and is

more affordable than the average for England.

Emerging challenge

- Residents reporting that they were ‘feeling happy yesterday’ has dipped.

- Demand for statutory Children’s Services is currently very high and not slowing.

- High number of children in care. This is a concern due to the associated risk to life-chances

for care-leavers.

- Measures such as proportion of minimum wage jobs, low qualifications, low healthy life

expectancy and a related increase in unpaid care pose a threat to overall well-being.

Healthier lifestyles & independent living: It appears that our population is both getting older and living to an older age, and as a result

there are some areas of challenge on the horizon that will need to be considered—both

concerning older people and the population on the whole.

- Overall life expectancy is set to increase for men and women.

- Rates of child obesity are expected to remain similar or the same.

- In isolation, the rate of mortality through causes considered preventable through good quality

health care and interventions is set to fall.

- A notable proportion of the population are providing unpaid care to loved ones, with a value

of over £1bn of avoided costs of care.

Emerging challenge

- The proportion of adults participating in the recommended level of physical activity every

week is in decline. This goes hand in hand with an expected increase in the numbers of adults

who are obese, although factors such as nutrition/diet and smoking also contribute.

Additionally there is an expected ongoing increase in the proportion of the population being

diagnosed with Type II diabetes.

- Healthy life expectancy for men already falls below the pension age. As the pension age

increases this has significant implications for the workforce and for individual’s ability to remain

economically independent into later life.

- Independent projections suggest that number of adults with dementia is increasing sharply and

will almost double over the next 15 years.

Feeling safer, happier and more supported: It is not possible to easily define which controlling factors have the greatest influence, or pose

the greatest risk to residents’ feelings of satisfaction and personal happiness. What we do know

is that our residents consistently tell us that they feel safe in the county, and trends in crime

suggest that there is little risk of change in the future.

- Roll out of super-fast broadband means residents will have better options in terms of digital

connectivity.

- Housing is likely to remain more affordable in Staffordshire than the average for England.

Emerging challenge

- Demand for statutory Children’s Services is unlikely to fall significantly in the short-term.

- If the implementation of the living wage increases unemployment amongst unskilled 25 year

olds, this may have a significant impact on resident’s feelings of wellbeing and satisfaction.

- Cuts in funding from Central Government to other public services such as Police and Fire

services might have an impact on residents feelings of safety, as well as levels of crime and ASB.

Staffordshire Tomorrow

What the future may hold The outlook for the future of Staffordshire, based on forecasting, projections and trends, is

one that holds few big surprises, but several big changes and challenges.

We know that the population is growing in size and average age, as it has for some time, but

the elderly population is set to grow at an unprecedented rate over the coming years and this

is something that will need to factor into many areas of decision making.

Accessing more good jobs and feeling the benefit of economic growth: While the post-recession economic recovery in Staffordshire has generally gone well, starting

as early as April 2016 we are going to see changes which need filter through into strategic

planning.

- Independent projections suggest that GVA is going to grow faster in Staffordshire than the

West Midlands and England.

- Proportions of young people achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C (incl. English &

Maths) are likely to stay above regional and national levels.

Emerging challenge

- There is the potential that the implementation of the Living Wage for over 25 year olds will

harm the employment opportunities and prospects of 25 and overs with no qualifications—as

they might be less desirable to employers than those <25 who they can pay a lower wage.

- There are a number of young people at risk of low educational outcomes who will need

support in order to achieve as well as their peers.

Achieving more for Staffordshire

In summary

Opportunities to seize

1 Improve the life chances, learning opportunities, and long-term employment prospects of

young people by increasing proportions and numbers achieving 5 A*-Cs at GCSE (incl. English

& Maths)—focussing particularly on those who are at risk of low-educational outcomes, and

thus creating greater opportunity for upwards social mobility.

2 Improving the life-chances and opportunities available to those already within the

workforce by providing greater scope for those with no formal qualifications to upskill and gain

relevant qualifications—creating opportunities for greater upward mobility within the

workforce and overall social mobility, as well as off-setting risks of Living Wage implementation

in April 2016.

3 Improving life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, well-being and overall life chances of

adults in Staffordshire by supporting those at risk of poor health outcomes as a result of

obesity– diverting them away from potential life-limiting and threatening complications, loss of

independence and economic exclusion.

4 Enable independent living and improve resource allocation for older-adults by considering

how we meet growing service demand in different ways; such as up-skilling, encouraging and

enabling unpaid carers to provide better home care for their loved ones, for longer.

5 Improve life chances and outcomes for the most vulnerable in society, by using our

growing understanding of the causal factors in Offending, Children’s Services and Domestic

Abuse to enable earlier identification of those at risk and offer early intervention services.

Potentially reducing some demand in late intervention and statutory services.

Opportunities to reduce demand for resource-intensive intervention and support;

- Reducing potential disability (as a result of obesity and Type II diabetes) which will in turn

reduce costs for care and housing adaptations, and potentially reduce additional housing benefit

and council tax subsidy for those who have been unable to work.

- Reducing CLA caseload (and possibly CPP) by considering different ways of working earlier

with those at greatest risk (via identification, strategy and support methodology).

- Investing in equipping and supporting unpaid carers, so that the needs of their loved-ones can

be better met at home, keeping the elderly out of the care system (particularly residential care)

for longer.

Opportunities to boost the economy

- Better qualifications will generate better employment opportunities and income for residents,

resulting in increased disposable income that can be spent locally, and reducing the number of

people on very low incomes needing state ‘top ups’ to make ends meet.

- Better levels of qualification will effect the desirability of the county as a location for new and

growing businesses to operate from, which in turn may result in increased levels of business

rates from new, growing and profitable business.

Why this, and not something else?

Accessing more good jobs and feeling the benefit of economic growth:

Closing the gap in GCSE attainment between those considered at risk of poor outcomes and

their peers, so that more young people are able to access the further and higher education

opportunities that they want, in addition to supporting unqualified adults to gain formal

qualifications, will both improve social mobility, and help create a workforce which is better

qualified as well as experienced. This will help make Staffordshire more enticing as a location

for growing and new businesses, as well as generating greater career options and personal

prosperity for our residents.

Additionally, if 30% of pupils considered at ’high’ or ’very high’ risk were able to achieve five

GCSEs at A*-C (incl. English & Maths) who previously would not have, Staffordshire would be

the best achieving authority amongst our statistical neighbours.

Healthier lifestyles & independent living:

Recognising the true value and contribution that unpaid carers bring to the care sector by

providing greater support and incentive to those who provide unpaid care—so that they can

provide better care, for longer—has the potential to offset £millions in care costs every year-

with particular consideration for those who care for relatives and friends in the early stages of

dementia.

Focussing on the risk that obesity presents in terms of avoidable years of life lost as a result (as

well as costs of care for those who become disabled through obesity and Type II diabetes) may

create an opportunity to enable for more people in Staffordshire to both remain independent

and economically active for longer, as well as reducing service demand in the longer term.

Feeling safer, happier and more supported:

Achieving success by improving opportunities for better employment and prosperity, better

health and independence, and feelings of safety are all likely to have a positive effect on levels of

resident satisfaction.

Using our knowledge about the factors that influence families needs, we can take a different

approach to how we offer support—using earlier intervention in order to meet families’ and

individuals’ needs before they escalate to the threshold for statutory intervention. This will

potentially have a positive impact on demand for statutory reactive services, and potentially

reduce the number of children experiencing the care system in the longer term.