SINePost newsletter - October 2013

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In this issue ...

1. Local Health Profile 2013
   
2. Healthy Life Expectancy
   
3. Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) aligned to 2011 LSOAs
   
4. Productivity - Economic Factsheet
   
5. Workless Households
   
6. Internet Access/Usage statistics
   
7. Trends in Birth Rates
   
8. Local Bus Passenger statistics
   
9. Census 2011: Communal Establishments
   
10. Beyond 2011: Consultation on the future of the Census
    
11. Forthcoming Statistical Releases
    

1.  Local Health Profiles 2013

Updated local authority Health Profiles have been published by Public Health England. The profiles, available at district and county level, provide a snapshot of the overall health of the local population and highlight potential problems through comparisons with national averages: www.apho.org.uk/resource/view.aspx?QN=HP_RESULTS&GEOGRAPHY=40

Health in Somerset is better or significantly better than the England average in respect of most of the indicators in the profiles. However, Somerset continues to perform significantly worse than the England average in terms of: smoking in pregnancy; obese adults; incidence of malignant melanoma; under 18s alcohol-specific hospital stays; and hospital stays for self-harm.

2.  Healthy Life Expectancy

Males in Somerset can expect to live 65.1 years in a state of ‘good’ health, and females 66.3 years, according to latest Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Both figures are above national averages: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-322107

The statistics suggest that on average males in Somerset can expect to live around 81% of their lives in good health, and females 79%.

Notably, around three quarters of local authorities in England have a male HLE below the state pension age of 65 years, and two-thirds have a female HLE below 65 years (i.e., the female state pension age from 2018).

3.  Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) aligned to 2011 LSOAs

Public Health England (PHE) has recently developed and published updated Index of Multiple Deprivation scores and rankings based on 2011 LSOA boundaries: www.apho.org.uk/resource/item.aspx?RID=125887

Note that the new scores and associated rankings are not endorsed by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG); the DCLG publish the official English Indices of Deprivation 2010, which are based on 2001 LSOA boundaries.

The methodology behind the new scores is as follows:

• Where LSOAs have split between 2001 and 2011, the current IMD score has been assigned to each of the new LSOAs.
• Where LSOAs have merged between 2001 and 2011, a population weighted average of the current IMD 2010 score has been assigned to the new LSOA.

One notable difference for Somerset between the IMD 2010 rankings and new PHE rankings is that an area of Williton which falls within the key ‘20% most deprived in England’ in IMD 2010 does not appear within this category under the 2011 LSOA boundaries and PHE methodology. This is a result of the Williton LSOA being merged with a neighbouring (‘less deprived’) LSOA in 2011.

4.  Productivity Economic Factsheet

The latest release in a series of factsheets on the Somerset economy looks at the issue of Productivity (GVA), and is available at: www.somersetintelligence.org.uk/productivity-sept13/

Gross value added (GVA) is a measure of the value of goods and services produced in an economy, and is the preferred measure of the Office for National Statistics to monitor the overall economic wellbeing of an area.

The production sector contributes the largest proportion of Somerset’s GVA (22.8%), closely followed by the public sector (21.8%) and distribution, accommodation and food sectors (20.6%). All of these sectors are more important in GVA terms for Somerset than for the UK as a whole. Somerset has lower levels of GVA provided by the ICT, finance and business services sectors than the UK, which may help explain why the county was less severely affected by the recession.

5.  Workless Households

Around 1 in 6 Somerset households (16.4%) are estimated to be ‘workless’ according to latest figures from the ONS Annual Population Survey, covering the period January to December 2012. A workless household is defined as one which includes at least one person aged 16-64 and where no-one aged 16 or over is in work. See: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-322248

Somerset is broadly in line with the South West average in terms of workless households (16.1% in 2012) and below the national average (18.1%). The number of workless households in Somerset has declined from a peak of 19.0% during 2010.

The Annual Population Survey also assesses reasons for not working. Data is not published at local authority level but for the South West region; sickness or disability was the most common factor (28%), followed by retirement (24%) and unemployment (15%).

6.  Internet Access/Usage statistics

An estimated 89% of adults in Somerset have used the Internet according to latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS): www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/rdit2/internet-access-quarterly-update/q2-2013/stb-ia-q2-2013.html

The proportion of adults who have ever used the internet in Somerset is slightly above the national average, and is up from 86% a year ago and 81% two years ago.

In a separate data release, based on national estimates, the ONS provides a more detailed breakdown of internet usage and non-usage across society: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/rdit2/internet-access---households-and-individuals/2013/index.html

Some key points are:

• People least likely to have used the internet are older people (particularly those aged 75+), people with disabilities and people on low incomes.
• One person households are the least likely household type to have internet access, most notably lone people aged 65 or over (only 40% of such households have internet access).
• The main reasons cited for not having internet access in 2013 are ‘don’t need it / not interested’ (59%), lack of skills (20%) and cost of equipment (13%).

7.  Trends in Birth Rates

There were 5,707 live births in Somerset in 2012 according to latest annual figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a rate of 63.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-320857

Nationally and in the South West as a whole the birth rate is highest in the 30 to 34 age group, although in Somerset the profile is younger, with the highest birth rate in the 25 to 29 age group (a rate of 119.7 per 1,000 women).

The proportion of births outside marriage (or civil partnerships) continues to grow. Having reached the 50% mark in Somerset in 2010, the proportion in 2012 was 51.5%, above the national average.

8.  Local Bus Passenger statistics

The Department for Transport (DfT) has published latest estimates for the number of passenger journeys on local bus services: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/bus01-local-bus-passenger-journeys

There were an estimated 8.1 million passenger journeys made in Somerset during 2012/13, down from 9.8 million three years ago. Somerset has seen the biggest fall in bus passenger journeys of any local authority in the South West in the last three years (down 17%). Somerset continues to have one of the lowest rates of bus passenger journeys per head of population of any local authority in England.

9.  Census 2011: Communal Establishments

The ONS has published multivariate data (i.e., cross tabulations of more than one topic) from the 2011 Census relating to communal establishments. Data can be split by age, gender or ethnicity of residents. The release provides estimates at local authority (district) level:www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-325365

Just over 11,000 Somerset residents live in communal establishments (as opposed to living in a ‘household’). The Census reveals 4,940 people resident in care homes, 3,538 residents of educational establishments and 1,447 residents of defence establishments. Findings include:

• Around 1 in 6 Somerset residents aged 85 or over live in a care home.
• A relatively high proportion of students in communal education establishments (principally, private schools) are from ethnic minorities: around 18% are non-White.
• At the time of the Census, 202 people were resident in hostels or temporary shelters for the homeless; the great majority of whom were aged 16 to 24.

10.  Beyond 2011: Consultation on the future of the Census

The Office for National Statistics has now opened its consultation on the future of the Census, in the form of an online survey: www.surveymonkey.com/s/XY3SK3W

The full consultation document, which outlines perceived advantages and disadvantages of the two recommended approaches, is available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/get-involved/consultations/consultations/beyond-2011-consultation/index.html

The consultation closes on 13^th December. The Somerset Intelligence team will be coordinating a response on behalf of Somerset Intelligence Partnership members.

11. Forthcoming Statistical Releases

The following are due for release at sub-regional geographies during October 2013:

• Integrated Household Survey - January to December 2012 (ONS)
• Civil Partnership Statistics, United Kingdom – 2012 (ONS)
• Fly-tipping in England - 2012/13 (Defra)
• Farming Statistics - Final land use, livestock populations and agricultural workforce at 1 June 2013 (Defra)
• Measuring National Well-being - Personal Well-being Across the UK, 2012/13

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