Wales ward

Ward description

Population

Ethnicity

Housing and Households

Employment, Benefits and Pension

General Health and Disability

Lifestyles and Specific Health Issues

Education

Crime and Anti-social Behaviour

Index of Multiple Deprivation 2015 and 2019

Data sources

Description

Wales ward lies in the far south of Rotherham Borough, with a population 9,741 (2019 population estimate). The ward is represented by two members of the Council. The main parish in the ward is Wales (population 7,190) which combines the twin villages of Wales and Kiveton Park which was once a mining community.  In the south is the parish of Harthill with Woodall (population 1,869).

In the far west of the ward is the Rother Valley Country Park which adjoins the location of the Gullivers Valley theme park. Woodall is well known as the location of a service station on the M1 motorway. Overall, the ward is not very deprived and contains some affluent areas including Harthill. However, there are some pockets of deprivation in Wales and Kiveton Park. Kiveton Bridge and Kiveton Park railway stations are situated in the ward.

Population by Age

Population change since 2011: +127 (1.3%) (Rotherham +3.2%)

The population of Wales ward has hardly changed since 2011 in contrast to the increasing borough population.  The age structure of the population is older than the Rotherham average.

Ethnicity

Official population ethnicity data is collected and analysed every ten years as part of the National Census. Unfortunately, this breakdown is not included within the annual mid-year estimate statistics published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Local populations can change significantly during the lifetime of this dataset. Therefore, as a local proxy we utilise the annual School and Pupil Census data to create an estimation of the current ethnicity breakdown.

The table below provides the ward analysis of both the 2011 census and latest School and Pupil census by the ethnic groupings used by the ONS.

Wales is among the 80% of wards in Rotherham where the white British population exceeds 90%, and the 60% of wards where the 2020 School and Pupil Census shows white British exceeding 90%.

Housing and Households

Dwellings in 2020: 4,439 (4,064 in 2011), Households in 2020: 4,441 (4,064 in 2011)

The number of dwellings in Wales has increased by 375 (+9%) since 2011 and there are 377 more households (+9%). With only a small growth in population (+1.3%) and a (+9%) rise in dwelling and households, this indicates the average household size is falling.

Wales has a high proportion of owner occupied housing and low proportion of rented housing. Most housing is either detached or semi-detached, with the proportion of detached houses well above average.

Council Rented Properties in 2020: 435 (404 houses and 31 flats), 10% of dwellings.

Employment, Benefits and Pensions

Wales has a high proportion of manufacturing employment and relatively few jobs in retail, with the service sector being dominated by business administration, education and accommodation. There is a high proportion of employment in the ward, sufficient to employ 64% of working age residents, although many commute elsewhere.

Benefits and Pensions (ONS)

The proportion of people claiming benefits of all types in Wales is well below the Rotherham average.

Child Poverty 2019 (DWP)

Child poverty in Rotherham West is well below the Borough averages.

General Health and Disability

General Health bad or very bad (2011): 6.2% (Rotherham 7.6%, England 5.5%)

Limiting Long Term Illness or Disability (2011): 20.7% (Rotherham 22%, England 17.6%)

Wales had rates of poor health and disability below the Borough average in 2011 but higher than the national average. Disability claim rates are below the Borough average.

Lifestyle and Specific Health Issues

Over 70% of health and lifestyle indicators are better (have lower rates) than Rotherham average. Additionally, a half of indicators are significantly better, particularly in terms of lower deaths from circulatory disease under 75 years, deaths from causes considered preventable and emergency hospital admissions for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and for Myocardial Infarction (heart attack). The period the data relates to is shown as (a) to (f) below and explained in the notes.

Compared to Rotherham average, Wales ward is better for (has lower rates/less):

Admissions for injuries in 15 to 24 year olds, in under 15s, and in under 5s (f); children with excess weight Reception Year and in year 6 (e); deaths from all cancer all ages, from all cancer under 75 years, from all causes all ages, from all causes under 75 years, from causes considered preventable, from circulatory disease all ages, from circulatory disease under 75 years, from coronary heart disease all ages, from respiratory diseases all ages all persons (c); emergency hospital admissions for all causes, for CHD, for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, for Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) (d); hospital stays for alcohol related harm (Broad definition) and for self-harm (d); incidence of colorectal cancer and of lung cancer (a); obese children reception and year 6 (e).

In contrast Wales ward is worse for (has higher rates/more):

Incidence of breast cancer (a); smoking prevalence at 15 years regular and at 15 years regular or occasional (2014); incidence of prostate cancer (a); emergency hospital admissions for hip fracture in 65+ (d).

Wales ward has higher (better) life expectancy at birth compared to Rotherham overall (1.9 years more life expectancy for men and 2.5 years more for women) (c).

The Top 5 better and worse indicators are shown below (see Notes):

Better than Rotherham average

Deaths from circulatory disease under 75 years (2013-2017) 61.6 Rotherham 119.4

Deaths from causes considered preventable (2013-2017) 63 Rotherham 114.7

Emergency hospital admissions for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (2013/14-2017/18) 97.9 Rotherham 168.1

Incidence of lung cancer (2012-2016) 76 Rotherham 128.6

Emergency hospital admissions for Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) (2013/14-2017/18) 67.2 Rotherham 112.1

Worse than Rotherham average

Incidence of breast cancer (2012-2016) 148.1 Rotherham 93.4

Smoking prevalence at 15 years Regular (2014) 10.2% Rotherham 7.2%

Smoking prevalence at 15 years Regular or Occasional (2014) 13.1% Rotherham 10%

Incidence of prostate cancer (2012-2016) 111.4 Rotherham 90

Emergency hospital admissions for hip fracture in 65+ (2013/14-201718) 124.5 Rotherham 104

Notes 

Hospital admissions, cancer incidence and death rates are standardised to England (England = 100) 

A ratio less than 100 is relatively better, more than 100 is relatively worse. 

These are based on 5 years data to produce robust rates at ward level. 

Cancer incidence data based on 2012-2016, children emergency admissions/A&E attendances 2013/14-2015/16, deaths 2013-2017, hospital admissions/stays/emergency admissions 2013/14-2017/18, children’s weight indicators 2015/16-2017-18, admissions for injury (children) 2011/12-2015/16.

Data periods: (a) 2012-2016 (b) 2013/14-2015/16 (c) 2013-2017 (d) 2013/14-2017/18 (e) 2015/16-2017/18 (f) 2011/12-2015/16. 

Data represents persons all ages unless otherwise specified. 

*Modelled prevalence (based on socio-demographic profile and small area population data) 

**Persons aged under 75. 

‘better’ and ‘worse’ based on differences over 10% from Rotherham average. 

Top 5 – Based on statistically significant or largest differences from Rotherham value. Ordering difficult due to comparing different measures (rates, percentages, ratios, life expectancy) 

Covid-19

Number of residents who tested positive for Covid-19
 (1st January 2020 – 21st March 2021)

Wales ward has below average infection rates for Rotherham and ranks 21st out of the 25 wards.

Education

Local Secondary School: Wales High School (Academy)

Early Years – Good Level of Development - 2019: 71.8% (Rotherham 70.3%, England 71.8) 

Key Stage 2 – Reached an expected level in Reading, Writing & Maths - 2019:

65% (Rotherham 59%, England 65%) 

GCSE attainment in English & Maths - pass at 9-4 level (A*-C) - 2019

67.7% (Rotherham average 51.9%)

Primary and secondary attainment in 2019 was above the Rotherham averages.

Highest Level of Qualification (2011 Census):

Level 4 or higher 18.0% (Rotherham 17.4%, England 27.4%)

No Qualifications 20.3% (Rotherham 29.8%, England 22.5%)

Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

Recorded Crime (2020): 663 (68 per 1,000 population) (Rotherham 90 per 1,000)

Recorded ASB (2020): 224 (23 per 1,000 population) (Rotherham 90 per 1,000)

Levels of recorded crime and ASB in Wales are less than the Rotherham average.

Index of Multiple Deprivation 2015 & 2019

The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is a Government index for all areas in England. The 2019 index uses 37 indicators across 7 deprivation domains (themes) with a 2013/14 baseline. The IMD is only produced for Lower-level Super Output Areas (SOAs) of which there are 167 in Rotherham (around 8 per ward) and 32,844 in England, each with around 1,500 people. SOAs are ranked across England where 1 is the most deprived. Any rank below 3,285 indicates that an area is within the 10% most deprived areas of England.

Deprivation in Wales

Wales is well below the Borough average and in most of the ward is also well below the national average. There are 3 neighbourhoods which are more deprived than the ward average. No neighbourhoods are within the most deprived 10% of England, however Wales East is more deprived than other areas within the borough.

Income deprivation is below average in Wales for all age groups. Whilst children are more likely to be affected by income deprivation than adults, the level is still well below the Borough average.

The IMD is not published for wards but the average SOA score in Wales is 16, well below the Rotherham average score of 29 (28 in 2015), with an SOA equivalent rank of 19,016 (58th percentile).

Data Sources

2011 Census, ward population estimates: Office for National Statistics

Employment data: Business Register and Employment Survey, ONS (via NOMIS)

Benefit data: Department for Work and Pensions (via NOMIS)

Child poverty data: HM Revenue and Customs

Local Health Indicators: Public Health England. For non-commercial use only.

Hospital Admissions: Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)

Modelled smoking prevalence estimates: University of Essex, Office for National Statistics and other sources.

Mortality: Office for National Statistics. (ONS)

Dwellings, households, council benefits, educational attainment: Rotherham MBC

Crime and ASB: South Yorkshire Police

Indices of Deprivation 2015 & 2019: Department for Communities and Local Government

Office for National Statistics sources licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.

Rotherham School and Pupil Census (January 2020)

Public Health England Covid-19 Situation Awareness Explorer (22/03/2021)