In summary - Staffordshiremoderngov.staffordshire.gov.uk/documents/s78607...‘Accessing more good...
Transcript of In summary - Staffordshiremoderngov.staffordshire.gov.uk/documents/s78607...‘Accessing more good...
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: [email protected]
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.