Population

C.1 The evidence for the social profile of Our Neighbourhood comes principally from the Super Output Areas of the April 2011 national census (Office for National Statistics, 2011), recording a total of 20,616 people living in Our Neighbourhood. 10,605 of these were boys or men, and 10,011 girls or women. Most of this discrepancy is accounted for by 514 male prisoners in Durham Jail. (The prison has a capacity of 1,017 but only 514 of them have been recorded in the census statistics.)

C.2 Over half (53%) of the residents were students, who numbered 10,916. Some of these are sixth-formers who had attained the age of 18, but the vast majority are at Durham University or New College. It should be noted that Durham University’s own figures show 12,733 for the Census year, but this difference can be explained by the fact that not all students live within Our Neighbourhood. The area with the highest concentration of students (87%) is the South Road group of colleges. Here there are 4,494 persons comprising 3,924 students and 570 long-term residents.

C.3 Since the 2011 Census the number of students in Our Neighbourhood has increased to an estimated over 16,000 out of a total of over 18,000 registered by the University in 2018/19. The number of the long-term residents is probably unchanged. Thus the total population of Our Neighbourhood amounts to some 26,000 in 2018/19.

C.4 The long-term (i.e. non-student) population of 9,700 in 2011 had roughly the same age balance as for the rest of County Durham, except that 11% are aged 75 or over as opposed to 8% in the County as a whole. 33% of the long-term residents are retired (25% in the County), and only 3% are sick or with disabilities (7% in the County). These comparisons indicate that Our Neighbourhood will have a greater demand for elderly accommodation of varying degrees of shelter and care, for day centres and for domiciliary care services but less proportionate need than in the County as a whole for provision for school places, playgrounds and so on. The nature of retailing and other leisure activities will also be affected by the greater proportion of elderly people. As to whether the lower proportion with sickness and disability will offset the health care needs for a more elderly population is not clear. Only 15.7% of the population is non-White British, but this is not typical of County Durham which has just 3.4% non White British. The main minority ethnic groups in Our Neighbourhood are Chinese (2.7%); Indian (1.3%); and Other Asian (1.2%), reflecting the international nature of the University.

C.5 In terms of the level of economic activity of the residents of Our Neighbourhood, 32.5% of residents (including students) are recorded in the 2011 Census as being economically active as against 57.3% in County Durham as a whole. This contrast can be explained on the basis of the presence of students, and to a lesser extent by the higher proportion of retired people.

Table C1: Economic activity of residents in Our Neighbourhood

Ward

Total persons 16-74 yrs old

Econ active full-time employees

Econ active part-time employees

Econ active self employed

Total econ active

% econ active

Elvet & Gilesgate

9,586

681

200

134

1,051

10.6%

Neville’s Cross

7,995

2,118

634

490

3,242

40.6%

Durham South*

4,908

633

2,108

312

3,053

62.6%

Our Neighbourhood*

22,489

3,432

2,942

936

7,310

32.5%

County Durham

303,796

50,595

143,922

25,309

219,826

57.3%

* Durham South Ward extends to Shincliffe Village outside the area of Our Neighbourhood

 

C.6 The dominant occupations of the residents in Our Neighbourhood who are in employment are education (25.6%); health and social services (11.12%); and retail and wholesale (10.7%). These figures demonstrate the role of Durham City as a major centre for the whole County through being the location of County Hall, the University Hospital of North Durham and Durham University, though of course most of the people who work at these locations live outside Our Neighbourhood and indeed outside Durham City.

Table C2: Occupations of residents in Our Neighbourhood

Ward

Total residents in employment

Retail and wholesale

Accom’n and food services

Professional and scientific services

Education services

Human health and social services

Elvet & Gilesgate

2,175

228

447

134

656

151

Neville’s Cross

3,873

338

303

335

1,179

474

Durham South*

3,158

423

188

200

524

402

Our Neighbourhood*

9,206

989

938

669

2,359

1,027

Percentages

100.0%

10.7%

10.2%

7.3%

25.6%

11.2%

County Durham

227,894

33,261

12,257

8,789

23,836

31,923

Percentages

100.0%

14.6%

5.3%

3.9%

10.4%

14.0%

* Durham South Ward extends to Shincliffe Village outside the area of Our Neighbourhood

 

C.7 The residents of Our Neighbourhood also notably hold more qualifications than is the case across the County: some 37% hold Level 3 (‘A’ level equivalent) qualifications compared with 14% in County Durham.

Table C3: Qualifications of residents in Our Neighbourhood

Ward

Total persons over 16 years old

Number with Level 3

% with Level 3

Elvet & Gilesgate

9,958

5,645

59%

Neville’s Cross

8,629

2,751

32%

Durham South*

5,543

598

11%

Our Neighbourhood*

24,130

8,994

37%

County Durham

425,258

57,957

14%

* Durham South Ward extends to Shincliffe Village outside the area of Our Neighbourhood

 

C.8 Townsend (2017) provides a summary of employment data for Our Neighbourhood, based on the 2011 Census and 2016 employment data. The data used in this summary was obtained via Durham University’s ‘Nomis’ system.

C.9 The health of the residents of Our Neighbourhood is above average: about 89% are in good or very good health, somewhat better than the figure of 76% for County Durham which reflects the long-standing damage to health and well-being caused in the traditional industries of County Durham beyond Durham City: coal-mining, railway engineering, ship-building and heavy engineering.

Table C4: Health of residents in Our Neighbourhood

Ward

% with good or very good health

Elvet & Gilesgate

91%

Neville’s Cross

90%

Durham South*

79%

Our Neighbourhood*

89%

County Durham

76%

* Durham South Ward extends to Shincliffe Village outside the area of Our Neighbourhood

 

C.10 The Index of Multiple Deprivation 2015 (Department for Communities and Local Government. OpenDataCommunities) reveals the legacy from those former industries: many communities of the County are amongst the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. In contrast, Our Neighbourhood is in the 30% least deprived; indeed Neville’s Cross is in the 10% least deprived. Put another way, out of a score of 100 for the least deprived places in England, Neville’s Cross stands at 96.

Table C5: Deprivation in Our Neighbourhood

Area

Deprivation rank
(out of 32844, where 1 is the most deprived in England)

In decile cluster of least deprived neighbourhoods in England

Ranking out of 100

Claypath/The Sands

23,986

30%

73

Elvet East

11,502

40%

35

Elvet West

24,697

30%

75

Crossgate North

21,968

40%

66

Crossgate South

32,457

10%

99

North End

29,553

20%

90

Neville’s Cross North

31,767

10%

97

Neville’s Cross South

31,421

10%

96

Our Neighbourhood* (approximately)

26,000

30%

79

* Durham South Ward extends to Shincliffe Village outside the area of Our Neighbourhood

See also Households and Housing Sites

Next section: Households

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