Place

Norfolk has a balance of urban and rural districts with Norwich the most urban and North Norfolk the most rural. 60% of our population 65+ live in a rural area.^[1] The rural nature of Norfolk presents opportunities in providing access to natural greenspace but higher risk of being killed or seriously injured on the roads and provides challenges to the delivery of services. Currently more than 120,000 people in Norfolk live in areas categorised as the most deprived 20% in England. Mainly located in the urban areas of Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Thetford and King’s Lynn together with some identified pockets of deprivation in rural areas, coastal villages and market towns.^[2]

Norfolk remains a very safe place. It continues to have one of the lowest crime rates in England, with the level of crime and disorder in most places being well below the national average. Although this varies across the county with the highest level in Norwich, Broadland the lowest.^[3] Access to green space is important to the quality of life, fresh air, exercise benefiting both physical and mental health. Breckland has the largest proportion of its area made up of Accessible Green Space. Health services in Norfolk are commissioned by 5 CCG’s and approximately one third of spending on social care is commissioned by Norfolk County Council. Housing continues to provide challenges as rent and prices rise as well as the demand to specialist housing for an aging population. Homelessness in Norfolk is better than the national rate, this varies across the county with a higher rate in Great Yarmouth and lower in South Norfolk.^[4] Employment within Norfolk is slightly higher than that of England although the average earnings is slightly lower.^[5]

1. www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
2. www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2015
3. www.norfolkinsight.org.uk/crime-and-community-safety/report/view/d1c44efd8e834c54be05d8c84fd96e81/E10000020
4. www.norfolkinsight.org.uk/housing/report/view/cd512ebffc9c4566b34976ad1c66a4aa/E10000020
5. www.norfolkinsight.org.uk/economy-and-employment/report/view/6d53372dc47c422aba0d07e4a78d28a1/E10000020

Average private rental rates between October 2017 to September 2018 in England was £844, in Norfolk the mean is £654 and varies from £549 in Great Yarmouth to £738 in South Norfolk.^[6] Projected number of households 2041 for Norfolk will be 454,041 currently 394,345.^[7] 15,780 houses were sold in Q3 2018 in Norfolk with average house price varying from £170,050 in Great Yarmouth to £250,000 in South Norfolk.^[7] Homelessness in Norfolk is better than the national rate with 1.5 households homeless or in priority need per 1,000 households, the rate for England is 2.4. However this rate varies across the county with a higher than nation rate in Great Yarmouth of 2.5 and lowest in South Norfolk of 0.6.^[7]

As housing becomes more expensive for both purchase and rent there will be strains on family’s sharing their homes longer, the ability to attract employee’s of low income employment and the increase in demand for good affordable housing. A household considered to be fuel poor, the levels of low income with high costs is defined and published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. Norfolk is lower 10.8%, England 11.1% of fuel poor households, within Norfolk the highest percentage is in Great Yarmouth and the lowest in Broadland.^[8]

Norfolk County Council’s Norfolk Transport Plan for 2026 sets out the vision for “A transport system that allows residents and visitors a range of low carbon options to meet their transport needs and attracts and retains business investment in the county.”^[9] Norfolk’s key strategic connections by road are to London and the south and an east-west road connection and route. Rail lines to the Midlands and north of England, London and the south, Midlands and the north of England via Cambridge, the south and Europe via St Pancras / Thameslink from King’s Lynn. Norfolk’s other gateways are Norwich Airport and the Ports at King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth.

Killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualties on England’s roads rate for 2014-2016 for Norfolk was approximately 1 in 2,250 of the population over the three year period higher than the national rate.^[10] Road transport energy consumption in Norfolk is 69% personal travel compared to 65% in the East of England and 67% for England as a whole.^[11]

Earnings across Norfolk are generally lower than England. Median annual resident salaries for 2018 in Norfolk were £21,542, for England £24,298. Employment in Norfolk is slightly higher than that of England with about 79.4% (16-64 year olds) in employment compared to 78.5% for England. Unemployment rates follow the same pattern with Norfolk at just over 4.7% and England 4.2%.^[12] An indication of the activity in an economy is the number of Active Enterprises along with those new start-ups and closures. Norfolk has about 33,000 active enterprises each year.^[13]

The balance of urban and rural varies across the districts with Norwich the most urban and North Norfolk the most rural. 60% of our population 65+ live in a rural area.^[14] The rural nature of Norfolk presents opportunities in providing access to natural greenspace but higher risk of being killed or seriously injured on the roads. Across Norfolk the Rural-urban classification varies from Urban within Norwich to Mainly Rural Breckland, North Norfolk and South Norfolk. 88% of North Norfolk is classed as rural. This variation across the county provides challenges to the delivery of services.

Currently more than 120,000 people in Norfolk live in areas categorised as the most deprived 20% in England.^[15] These are mainly located in the urban areas of Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Thetford and King’s Lynn together with some identified pockets of deprivation in rural areas, coastal villages and market towns.^[16] However, some of the smaller areas of rural deprivation, which can make delivery of services more difficult and reduce accessibility for the population, remain hidden.

Health services in Norfolk are commissioned by 5 Clinic Commissioning Group’s and include 3 Acute Hospitals with about 170 GP practices and branches. Mental health services are provided by the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation trust. In Norfolk, for adults both working age and 65+ there are 63 residential nursing providers, 299 residential care homes, 85 homecare providers, 205 day-care providers (accredited to provide services to Norfolk County Council), 1 shared lives, 17 extra care housing and 35 supported living providers. Estimated to employ over 27, 000 jobs and approximately one third of spending on social care is commissioned by Norfolk County Council, supporting over 16,800 social care service users.^[17]

The highest rates of fatal injuries at work are falls from a height, contact with moving machinery and being struck by a vehicle of self reported work-place injuries. Approximately 30% result in over 7 days absence, and a total over 611,000 non fatal injuries across Great Britain in 2014/15. Most frequent causes of injury are manual handling, slips and trips and falls from a height. Ill health caused or made worse by work is estimated to be approximately 1.2 million cases nationally resulting in approximately 22.3 million nationally, most frequently stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders.^[18]

Norfolk remains a very safe place. It continues to have one of the lowest crime rates in England, with the level of crime and disorder in most places being well below the national average. Although this varies across the county with a Norfolk average at just over 65 per 1,000 population (Feb-18 to Jan-19) highest in Norwich and lowest in Broadland.^[19] Within the English Indices of Deprivation the Crime domain for Norfolk is within the lowest 7% of all upper tier local authorities.^[20]