Key Findings
In this section, we provide a brief overview of how this year’s statistics compare to last year’s
Positive Progress
- The proportion of young people aged 16–17 not in education, employment or training (NEET), has slightly reduced.
- Numbers officially accepted as homeless are down.
- Households in temporary accommodation, including those with children, are lower.
Going Backwards
- Foodbank use has increased by over 25% (a quarter).
- The proportion of users of Adult Services who have as much social contact as they would like has fallen by 5%.
- The earnings gap has grown, as low wages have not increased as much as wages overall.
Little Change
Most indicators show little change compared with last year’s figures and this is a cause for concern. For example:
- Gender weekly pay gap in York (£117) remains above the national average.
- Child poverty rates have not reduced.
- Life expectancy by ward continues to vary by up to 8 years.
- The number of hate crimes recorded is almost unchanged.
New Indicator
Due to changes in the way that central government reports on education we used a new measure called Progress 8 last year, but it was difficult to understand. This year, we instead compare the percentage of economically disadvantaged children reaching the expected standards for reading, writing and maths at the end of primary education to the rest of the children in York.
Achievements & Impact
In 2018, we have built on the momentum created by the 2017 declaration of York as a Human Rights City. Key developments include:
- Supporting the establishment of a Human Rights and Equalities Board for the city which includes political party representatives and a wide range of other stakeholders. In 2018 the Board has focused on young people not in education, employment and training (NEETs), applying a human rights-based approach to a pressing social issue for the city.
- Delivering a Community Voices programme to enable individuals not usually reached by Council consultation processes to have their say. In 2018, outreach was conducted with homeless people, and in some of the city’s less affluent wards.
- Conducting extensive outreach and engagement activities, in particular with people with disabilities, women and young people.
