News

• 31 July 2018

  Local Authority Health Profile 2018

  This profile gives a picture of people’s health in Kirklees. It is designed to help local government and health services understand their community’s needs, so that they can work together to improve people’s health and reduce health inequalities.
  
  Health in summary
  The health of people in Kirklees is varied compared with the England average. About 17% (14,900) of children live in low income families. Life expectancy for both men and women is lower than the England average.
  
  Health inequalities
  Life expectancy is 8.8 years lower for men and 6.4 years lower for women in the most deprived areas of Kirklees than in the least deprived areas.
  
  Child health
  In Year 6, 21.1% (1,081) of children are classified as obese, worse than the average for England. The rate of alcohol-specific hospital stays among those under 18 is 19 (rate per 100,000 population), better than the average for England. This represents 19 stays per year. Levels of teenage pregnancy, GCSE attainment and smoking at time of delivery are worse than the England average.
  
  Adult health
  The rate of alcohol-related harm hospital stays is 660 (rate per 100,000 population). This represents 2,719 stays per year. The rate of selfharm hospital stays is 144 (rate per 100,000 population), better than the average for England. This represents 635 stays per year. Estimated levels of adult physical activity are worse than the England average. The rate of TB is worse than average. The rate of sexually transmitted infections is better than average.

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• 31 July 2018

  Post-16 Employment and Skills Kirklees District Strategic Needs Assessment

  This document seeks to outline the current arrangements for delivering Post-16 Employment and Skills in Kirklees. It identifies a range of needs, priorities, immediate challenges and opportunities based upon a detailed analysis of available demographics, data and intelligence. The assessment also considers future provision against key economic priorities in the Leeds City Region Strategic Economic Plan, as well as key local strategic priorities laid out in the Kirklees Economic Strategy.
  
  Report: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/resource/view?resourceId=4696
  Appendix: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/resource/view?resourceId=4697

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• 19 July 2018

  Kirklees unemployment climbs to 3% (June 2018)

  Unemployment figures (Claimant Count, Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)) for June 2018 were released on Tuesday 17 July 2018 by the Department of Works and Pensions, and are now available in profiles, tables and maps. Figures shown use the headline 'Claimant Count' indicator introduced in October 2015, which counts the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance plus those who claim Universal Credit who are out of work.
  
  Profile: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/profiles/profile?profileId=124&geoTypeId=
  Table: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/dataviews/view?viewId=555
  
  The unemployment total for Kirklees in June 2018 was 8,075 or 3.0% of 16-64 year old population (England 2.1). This represents an increase of +245 on the previous month, and an increase of +2,110 claimants on the same time last year; the lowest number of claimants in recent years was in December 2016 (5,380). However, under Universal Credit a broader span of claimants are required to look for work than under Jobseeker's Allowance. As Universal Credit Full Service is rolled out in particular areas, the number of people recorded as being on the Claimant Count is therefore likely to rise.
  
  The number unemployed January 2008 to date peaked in February 2013 (13,440). In the Leeds City Region Selby and York have the lowest unemployment (1.2%), with Barnsley and Calderdale the highest (3.4%). The ward with the highest unemployment rate are Dewsbury East (4.7%), with Kirkburton the lowest at 0.8%.
  
  Youth unemployment (18-24) stood at 1,625 or 4.1% of the population aged 18-24 (England 2.8%), +60 higher than last month and +330 higher than the same time last year. However, the claimant count underestimates youth unemployment as not everyone is entitled to benefit or chooses to claim. From the Annual Population Survey it is estimated that the number of young people unemployed in West Yorkshire is over two times higher than the claimant count.
  
  Over the period July 2016 to June 2017, 665 decisions to apply a sanction or claim disallowed ('adverse') were taken by Kirklees Jobcentres, an average of 55 per month (Source: Gov.uk). This figure does not, however, include those who are claiming Universal Credit and have received a sanction or claim disallowed ('adverse').
  
  There are two ways of measuring unemployment. The alternative method to the claimant count is the Annual Population Survey which is less accurate, but counts people who are not eligible for benefit that are out of work and actively seeking work. In Kirklees the latest model-based unemployment figure was 10,800 or 5.2% of those aged 16 and over and economically active (England 4.3%). However, confidence intervals reveal that the true number unemployed for Kirklees could lie between 12,900 and 8,700 (4.2% to 6.2%), so this helps to show why this measure is not often quoted; nevertheless the trend has been downwards, and the latest figure for people surveyed between April 2017 and March 2018 is statistically significantly lower than April 2011 and March 2012.
  

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• 17 July 2018

  Number of residential properties increases by 1,300 since 2017

  Updated council tax data for July 2018 includes council tax reduction scheme benefit claimants, single person relief discount, number of properties and occupied properties, and empty homes. The data appears in a number of outputs and links to some of these are given below:
  
  Profile: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/profiles/profile?profileId=108&geoTypeId=
  Profile: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/profiles/profile?profileId=139&geoTypeId=
  
  Table: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/dataviews/view?viewId=120
  Table: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/dataviews/view?viewId=558
  
  Data has been extracted annually from council tax systems since 1995, and since then the number of properties on the system has grown from 155,700 to around 186,400 today, an increase of around 20%, with around 1,300 added in Kirklees ince July 2017. Across Kirklees the growth has not been equal with Newsome ward experiencing the largest percentage increase (37.2%, 2,835 properties), with Dalton the lowest (8.1%, 605 properties). Newsome is an area which has seen much development of dedicated student accommodation in recent years.
  

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• 16 July 2018

  Kirklees mean Gross Household Income increases by 1.5%

  Gross Household Income data for 2018 is now available in profiles and tables:
  
  Profile: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/profiles/profile?profileId=133&geoTypeId=
  Table: http://observatory.kirklees.gov.uk/dataviews/view?viewId=177
  
  Average Gross Household Income (GHI) is available for areas as a mean or median, though median is only available for certain areas. In Kirklees the mean GHI is estimated as £36,536 an increase of 1.5% from 2017 (median £29,222), compared to £39,884 for England (median £32,090). Kirkburton ward has the highest GHI (mean £50,473, median £43,035) with Newsome the lowest (mean £26,678, median £20,744). At Lower Super Output Level mean GHI is highest in 'E01011046 Fixby, Bradley Bar' (£63,739), and lowest in 'E01011101 Deighton, Riddings' where £15,491 represents a quarter of the E01011046 value.
  
  Gross Household Income is sourced from CACI Ltd where it is marketed as Paycheck.
  

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