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	Wider context of health and wellbeing For much of the population, formal healthcare services do not impact on their wellbeing. Factors like lifestyle, the economy, deprivation, social networks, education and skills have a much greater impact. This section provides information on the wider issues that affect health and wellbeing.

Deprivation

Summary

What are the key messages about deprivation in Norfolk?

On most of the county summary measures, Norfolk is ranked 90th and 99th most deprived of 149 local authorities, but on rank of income scale and rank of employment scale it is ranked eighth

Newly released figures allow us to estimate more accurately the numbers and proportions of income and employment deprived people for local authority totals

Around one in eight Norfolk residents are income deprived and one in ten are employment deprived

Around one in six Norfolk children are in income deprived families, and similarly one in six older people are income deprived

Great Yarmouth and Norwich have the largest numbers of people classed as income deprived or employment deprived of all Norfolk Districts

In Norwich 31 per cent of children (6,400) are in income deprived families, and a quarter of older people (6,300) are income deprived

Environmental context

Educational attainment and skills

Economic development and prosperity

The Local Economic Assessment 2010 for Norfolk highlights the following key points

In Autumn 2010, the Norfolk economy, along with the rest of the UK, is in a delicate condition. The recession has impacted on local businesses and increased unemployment in the county, but Norfolk has survived the recession better than many other areas of the UK and the economy has considerable potential to recover from the recession and, in time, return to strong growth.

Norfolk's economy encompasses a wide range of business sectors, including many identified as 'growth industries'. The county is recognised for strength in offshore energy and engineering, financial/business services, creative/media industries and health and life sciences. Recent restraint in government spending may affect growth in those sectors that are reliant upon public sector investments and a reduction in public sector employment is also expected.

Norfolk has a remarkable natural environment and built heritage and the 'quality of life' in the county is considered to be extremely good. Norfolk also has a significantly lower crime rate than national or regional averages. These are positive assets in Norfolk's inward investment and tourism offer.

Health indicators are generally better than national averages, although there are pockets of poor health, notably in some Norwich and Great Yarmouth urban wards.

Business survivability in Norfolk is better than national averages, but business 'start up' rates (particularly in North Norfolk) are below national levels.Education and skills levels in the county, although improving, are generally lower than regional and national levels (which are also improving at a comparable rate).

Relatively low wage levels within the economy contribute to social and economic inequalities and there are pockets of rural deprivation along with some severe deprivation in urban wards of Gt. Yarmouth, King's Lynn, Thetford and Norwich.

Norfolk (with the exception of Norwich) has a higher proportion of the population over 60 years of age, compared with regional and national populations, and there is ongoing growth in this older demographic, driven by net inward migration. There is a particularly high concentration of the over 60s in North Norfolk district.

The county has significant infrastructure deficits, including transport, water supply and waste water disposal, energy, flood defences and ICT (poor broadband coverage/speeds and poor mobile phone coverage). Failure to address these infrastructure deficits will seriously hamper business retention and delivery of housing and jobs growth.

For Norfolk businesses the mismatch in available skills and training is a key concern while the need to improve ICT services and transport infrastructure and the availability of suitable/modern premises and unconstrained employment land also remain significant issues. There is a desire to reduce the burden of 'over-regulation' and high energy costs are cited as affecting business performance.