SINePost newsletter - May 2016

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In this issue ...

1.  State of the Somerset Economy report
   
2.  Dwelling Stock estimates
3.  Educational Attainment at Age 19 statistics
4.  Highest Level of Qualification estimates
5.  Job Density estimates
6.  Older People's Health and Well-being Profile
7.  Marriage statistics
8.  Vehicle Licensing statistics
9.  Distances to Vehicle Charge Points data
10.  Evidence Centre on UK Housing
11.  What's New on the Somerset Intelligence website?
12.  Forthcoming Statistical Releases

1. State of the Somerset Economy report

Key economic data and analysis on the county’s strengths, weaknesses and economic performance is now available in the form of the technical evidence base of the Somerset Economic Assessment: www.somersetintelligence.org.uk/somerset-economic-assessment/

The report is intended to be used in conjunction with other intelligence to inform a full economic assessment during 2016.

Key facts include:

• The credit crunch caused Somerset’s GVA to contract by 4.6% between 2007 and 2010. However, since 2012 the Somerset economy has been growing at a faster rate than the UK.
• In 2014, the Somerset economy was worth £9.586 billion, an increase of 3.2% since 2013. Without policy intervention, by 2030, the Somerset economy is expected to be worth £13.892bn.
• Somerset has a higher employment rate than the UK overall and higher levels of self-employment than the UK. The proportion of people in the County who are self-employed has increased by 20% since 2009.
• Average earnings in Somerset are consistently lower than the UK level but gross disposable household income is approximately 2% higher.

2. Dwelling Stock estimates

The total number of dwellings in Somerset has increased to 248,690 in the latest annual estimate published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (as at 31 March 2015). This represents an increase of 2,920 dwellings on a year earlier, the largest annual increase in at least a decade. Private sector providers accounted for 79% of the increase, with Housing Associations accounting for 21%.

Taunton Deane saw one of the biggest rates of increase in dwellings in the South West between 2014 and 2015 (up 1.5%), second only to Exeter.

See: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants (Table 125)

3. Educational Attainment by Age 19 statistics

Overall educational attainment by age 19 remains broadly unchanged in Somerset according to latest annual figures from the Department for Education (DfE): www.gov.uk/government/statistics/level-2-and-3-attainment-by-young-people-aged-19-in-2015

In 2015:

• 86.2% of 19 year-olds were qualified to at least Level 2 (5 GCSEs at A*-C or equivalent), an increase of 0.1 percentage points on the equivalent 2014 figure.
• 56.2% of 19 year-olds were qualified to at least Level 3 (2 A-levels or equivalent), representing a decrease of 0.2 percentage points on the previous figure.

The figures relate to young people who were in the state sector at age 15. Somerset is similar to the England average at Level 2 and below then national average at Level 3.

In Somerset, the attainment ‘gap’ between those eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) and those not eligible for FSM was 20.6% percentage points (ppts) at Level 2, and 31.6% ppts at Level 3 (with both exceeding national averages).

4. Highest Level of Qualification estimates

The proportion of Somerset residents qualified to at least Level 4 or equivalent (NVQ4, HND or Degree) continues to increase but remains below the national average according to the latest Annual Population Survey. In 2015 an estimated 35.9% of working-age Somerset residents were educated to at least Level 4, compared to 37.1% in Britain as a whole.

At a district level, Taunton Deane has by far the highest proportion of residents with a Level 4 qualification in Somerset (44.3% in 2015), followed by Mendip (36.4%), South Somerset (36.2%), West Somerset (29.5%) and Sedgemoor (28.1%).

See: www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/948.aspx

5. Jobs Density estimates

There are estimated to be the equivalent of 0.84 jobs for every Somerset resident aged 16-64 according to latest annual (2014) figures from the Office for National Statistics. This represents an increase on the 0.82 jobs per working-age resident a year earlier.

Within Somerset, West Somerset district has the highest jobs density (0.98), followed by Taunton Deane (0.93), South Somerset (0.84), Mendip (0.79) and Sedgemoor (0.75).

A jobs density of 1.0 means that there is one job for every resident aged 16-64. Within the South West, only Exeter, West Dorset, Cotswold, Cheltenham and the Isles of Scilly have a jobs density figure of 1.0 or greater.

See: www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/949.aspx

6. Older People’s Health and Well-being Profile

A new tool from Public Health England examines the health and care of older people across all (upper-tier) local authority areas in England, based on 95 separate indicators: http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/older-people-health

Areas where Somerset appears better than the national average benchmark include life expectancy, quality of life, and (avoidance of) permanent placements in residential care. 

Indicators for which Somerset appears worse than the England average include levels of fuel poverty, emergency hospital admissions for hip fracture, and prevalence of dementia.

7. Marriage statistics

The number of marriages occurring in Somerset fell by 8% in the latest set of annual figures published by the Office for National Statistics, mirroring a national fall.

During 2013 there were 3,060 marriage ceremonies in the county, of which around two-thirds were civil ceremonies and one-third were religious ceremonies. The number of civil ceremonies fell by 5% in 2013, while the number of religious ceremonies fell by 13%.

Two-thirds (66%) of marriages in Somerset were the first marriage for both partners. Remarriages for both parties accounted for 17% of all marriages.

For the full dataset, see: www.nomisweb.co.uk/articles/950.aspx

8. Vehicle Licensing Statistics

The overall number of cars registered to households in Somerset passed the 300,000 mark in 2015 according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Numbers have increased by an average of 3,300 each year over the past decade, with the rate of increase higher than the national average (up 12.4% since 2005 in Somerset, compared to 9.9% in Great Britain as a whole)

There were just over 16,000 motorcycles licensed in Somerset in 2015, with overall numbers around 4% lower than ten year earlier.

Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs) have seen the biggest rate of increase of any vehicle type in recent years, while numbers of licenced Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) have been broadly static.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/all-vehicles-veh01

9. Distances to Vehicle Charge Points

People in Somerset can be anywhere up to 32 miles from an electric vehicle public charge point according to data produced by the Department for Transport (a snapshot as of January 2016).

Within the county, Bridgwater, Taunton, Wellington and Wincanton are some of the best served areas, with average distances to public vehicle charge points generally under 5 miles. West Somerset appears relatively poorly served, with Minehead around 27 miles from the nearest charge point.

On the whole, people in England are an average of 3.8 miles from a public charge point.

See: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/ad-hoc-journey-times-analysis-jts10

10. Evidence Centre on UK Housing

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has announced plans for a national ‘Evidence Centre’ on housing, to bring together data and research to inform housing policy at a local and national level. Work is likely to be structured around key themes, including housing supply and demand; housing choices and outcomes; poverty; neighbourhood design; and sustainability.

The JRF is planning to launch a call for applications to establish the centre in May, with the centre itself expected to be launched during 2017. For further details, see: www.jrf.org.uk/funding/evidence-centre-uk-housing

11. What’s New on the Somerset Intelligence website?

The following pages have been updated in the last month:

• Social Isolation and Loneliness: somersetintelligence.org.uk/social-isolation.html
• Eating Disorders: somersetintelligence.org.uk/eating-disorders.html
• Sexual Health: somersetintelligence.org.uk/sexual-health.html
• Child Exploitation: somersetintelligence.org.uk/cse.html

12. Forthcoming Statistical Releases

The following are due for release at sub-regional geographies during May:

• Subnational population projections: 2014-based projections (ONS)
• Housing Price Affordability Tables, England, update to 2015 (DCLG)
• Traveller Caravan Count: January 2016 (DCLG)
• The regional value of tourism in the UK: 2013 (ONS)
• Benefit cap: number of households capped to February 2016 (DWP)
• Health Profiles: May 2016 data update (PHE)
• Oral health survey of 5-year old children: 2014 to 2015 (PHE)

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