BRIEFING NOTE:

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2016: Results for Stirling Council Area

Stirling

By Numbers

September 2016

Introduction

The Scottish Government has published the summary results for Scottish local authority areas from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) for 2016. The SIMD identifies small-area concentrations of multiple deprivation across Scotland on an equitable basis. The system allows effective targeting of policies, interventions or funding where the aim is to tackle concentrations of deprivation and the multiple poor outcomes that result. ‘Deprived’ does not just mean ‘poor’ or ‘low income’. It can also mean people have fewer resources and opportunities, for example in health and education. Multiple deprivation is made up of separate dimensions - or domains. These measure specific aspects of deprivation that when brought together provide a comprehensive assessment of the level of relative multiple deprivation of an area. The 2016 index is comprised of the following domains:

• Income - Adults/ families in receipt of various benefits • Employment - Unemployment claimant count plus various working age benefits • Health - Variety of indicators relating hospital admissions, mortality, substance misuse etc. • Education - Pupil performance, attendance, destinations, with no qualifications • Access - Drive and public transport times to key services e.g. GP, PO, schools etc. • Housing - Overcrowding and without central heating

• Crime - Recorded crime rates for key crimes: House breaking, Drug offences, Common assault, Crimes of violence, Vandalism and Sexual offences.

The SIMD is presented at datazone1 level enabling small pockets of deprivation to be identified. All of Scotland’s datazones, which have an average population size of 767, are ranked from most deprived (No1) to least deprived (No 6,976) on the overall SIMD, and on each of the individual domains. The result is a comprehensive picture of relative area deprivation across Scotland. Results for Stirling Council Area The current SIMD release uses different datazones based on the 2011 Census which were introduced in November 2014. The Stirling Council area previously had 110 datazones and now has 121 as a result of population growth and newly created datazones to better reflect the socio-economic profile of communities. Therefore, direct comparisons of indicators between 2016 and previous years is not possible. An example of this is shown in Figure 1 below. The old datazone of Cornton West and Centre (black outline) includes the relatively affluent new community of Westhaugh as well as the relatively deprived area of Cornton, therefore deprivation within the 1,800 population was diluted resulting in the datazone being outwith the SIMD most deprived 20%. However, as a result of

1 Stirling Council area comprises 121 individual datazones in SIMD 2016. Previous indices used 110

datazones

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datazones being redrawn, Cornton now has two datazones (purple shaded area with a population of 1,300) in the SIMD worst 10% which were previously masked in 2012. Figure 1: Cornton area old and new datazones

© Crown copyright and database rights 2016 Ordnance Survey 100020780.

Generally speaking, Stirling Council area is relatively affluent and datazones in Stirling are more concentrated at the least deprived end of the distribution on the overall SIMD. However, Stirling still contains datazones ranging from among the most deprived to amongst the least deprived in Scotland as shown in Figure 2 below. The percentage of Stirling’s datazones in the deciles 1 & 2 (i.e. the most deprived 20%) has increased slightly between SIMD 2012 and SIMD 2016. However the percentage of datazones in the third decile has decreased. The least deprived decile (10) also shows a significant positive increase from previous indices.

Figure 2 - Distribution of Stirling datazones across national deciles (10% groupings)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

1

most

deprived

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

least

deprived

SIMD 2004 SIMD 2006 SIMD 2009 SIMD 2012 SIMD 2016

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Deprivation Thresholds A range of thresholds are used to indicate deprivation, such as 5%, 10%, 15% or 20%, depending on whether the very highest concentrations of deprivation are identified or where a broader definition is to be used. Of Scotland’s 6,976 datazones, two of Raploch’s four datazones are in the most deprived 5% in Scotland - a total population of around 1,600, which is 1.7% of Stirling’s population. Allowing for small adjustments to datazone boundaries there appears to be a significant improvement on 2012 when there were around 2,600 (2.9%) of Stirling residents in the worst 5% which included a third datazone in Raploch as well as the Cultenhove datazone. When considering the most deprived 10% in Scotland, the third datazone from Raploch and Cultenhove (both previously in the worst 5%) are joined by two datazones from the Cornton area giving a total population of 4,170 (4.6%) residents in the worst 10% compared with 3,100 (3.5%) in 2012. The inclusion of the Cornton datazones are explained on the previous page. When considering the most deprived 15% in Scotland, Raploch’s final datazone (previously in worst 10%), and the newly created datazones of the Mayfield area of St Ninians and East Plean are added – making a total population of 6,650. This is 7.3% of Stirling’s population and an increase from 5.1% in the 2012 index. This increase appears to be mainly due to adjustments to datazone boundaries to better reflect the deprivation in these areas. When considering the most deprived 20% in Scotland, parts of Fallin (2 datazones), Cowie, Hillpark and Top of The Town are also added – making a total population of 10,150. This is 11.1% of Stirling’s population and an increase from 9.2% in the 2012 index (8,250 people). As a result of datazone boundary adjustments, all of these datazones boundaries differ markedly from previous indices to better reflect deprivation in these areas. Summary of Changes 2012 – 2016 by Area As mentioned previously, direct comparisons with the current newly created datazones cannot be made with datazones used in previous versions of SIMD. However some general points can be made:

� Raploch overall has seen an improvement. Previously 3 datazones were in the most deprived 1% in Scotland and the remaining datazone was in the worst 6%. Two of Raploch’s datazones continue to have deep-rooted deprivation, however the remaining two are now at 7% (South West Raploch) and 12% (North West Raploch).

� The Cultenhove area (adjusted datazone) has improved by moving just outwith Scotland’s

most deprived 5%.

� In 2012 Fallin had one datazone in the worst 15% (Fallin West). None of Fallin’s newly created datazones are within the worst 15%, however two fall within the most deprived 20% with a further datazone just beyond the 20% threshold.

� One of Cowie’s four current datazones is within the most deprived 20% in Scotland and

two others are just beyond the 20% threshold. In 2012 only one of Cowie’s three datazones was in the worst 20%.

� The Hillpark South datazone and Stirling Castle/Top of The Town datazone both remain in

the most deprived 20%. The geographical area of both these datazones have been adjusted from previous indices.

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Individual Domains SIMD creates an overall score for each datazone and these values are combined to create an overall SIMD rank for each datazone using the following weights: Income (12), Employment (12), Health (6), Education (6), Access (4), Crime (2) and Housing (1). Looking across the 7 domains that make up the SIMD 2016, the number and percentage of zones within the 15% most deprived are described below. Using this 15% threshold, there are small increases across most domains. Income Domain The level of income deprivation in Stirling is below that of Scotland as a whole. In the SIMD 2016 income domain, 9% of the population of Stirling were income deprived (8,240 residents). This compares to 12% across Scotland as a whole. Across Stirling’s 121 datazones, 12 have income deprivation ranging from 20% to 40% of residents. In contrast, 42 datazones have income deprivation of less than 5%. On the income domain in SIMD 2016, 8 (0.8%) of the 1,046 datazones in the 15% most deprived datazones in Scotland were found in Stirling, compared to 6 (0.6%) in 2012 and 4 (0.4%) in 2009, 5 (0.5%) in 2006 and 6 (0.6%) in 2004. Employment Domain The level of employment deprivation in Stirling is below that of Scotland as a whole. In the SIMD 2016 employment domain, 8% of the population of Stirling working age were employment deprived (4,900 working age residents). This compares to 11% across Scotland as a whole. Across Stirling’s 121 datazones, 9 have employment deprivation ranging from 20% to 36%. By contrast, 44 show a rate of less than 5% employment deprived. In the employment domain in SIMD 2016, 9 (0.9%) of the 1,046 datazones in the 15% most deprived datazones in Scotland were found in Stirling, compared with 6 (0.6%) in 2012 and 6 (0.6%) in 2009, 6 (0.6%) in 2006 and 7 (0.7%) in 2004. Health Domain In the health domain in SIMD 2016, 9 (0.9%) of the 1,046 datazones in the 15% most deprived datazones in Scotland were found in Stirling, compared with 9 (0.9%) in 2012 and 9 (0.9%) in 2009, 13 (1.3%) in 2006 and 6 (0.6%) in 2004. Education Domain In the education domain in SIMD 2016, 18 (1.7%) of the 1,046 datazones in the 15% most deprived datazones in Scotland were found in Stirling, compared with 17 (1.7%) in 2012 and 12 (1.2%) in 2009, 15 (1.5%) in 2006 and 8 (0.8%) in 2004. Housing Domain On the housing domain in SIMD 2016, 8 (0.8%) of the 1,046 datazones in the 15% most deprived datazones in Scotland were found in Stirling, compared with 6 (0.6%) in 2012. Access Domain In the access domain in SIMD 2016, 27 (2.6%) of the 1,046 datazones in the 15% most deprived datazones in Scotland were found in Stirling, compared to 24 (2.5%) in 2012 and 21 (2.2%) in 2009, 18 (1.8%) in 2006 and 25 (2.6%) in 2004. Crime Domain In the crime domain in SIMD 2016, 18 (1.7%) of the 1,046 datazones in the 15% most deprived datazones in Scotland were found in Stirling, compared to 14 (1.4%) in 2012 and 18 (1.8%) in 2009 and 11 (1.1%) in 2006.

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The following map shows the 14 datazones in Stirling in the 20% most deprived on the overall SIMD 2016.

Figure 3 – Stirling’s 20% most deprived datazones in the overall SIMD 2016

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Important Points to Note:

• The SIMD cannot be used to determine ‘how much’ more deprived one datazone is than another e.g. it is not possible to say that data zone X, ranked No 50, is twice as deprived as data zone Y, ranked No100. However it is possible to say that X is more deprived than Y.

• The index cannot be used to highlight deprivation of individuals. It is a place-focused tool that

draws a statistical picture of defined geographical areas at a particular moment in time. This is of course a simplistic view of the dynamic nature of deprivation in the 21st century.

• A datazone not being included in the 5%/ 15%/ 20% most deprived does not mean an absence of deprivation, just no concentration of multiple deprivation. Not all people who are deprived live in deprived areas. Similarly, in rural areas there are fewer concentrations of multiple deprivation and more mixed populations.

• Changes are relative and may not reflect actual changes in the neighbourhood.

• The SIMD does not measure affluence as the indicators used are selected to measure

deprivation such as receipt of benefits. A lack of deprivation does not indicate affluence, therefore, data zones with high ranks are not necessarily affluent, simply relatively less deprived.

For further information contact: Paul McNamara, Research Officer Tel: (01786) 233020 Email: mcnamarap@stirling.gov.uk Prepared: 13th September 2016 Key Links:

• General information: http://www.gov.scot/SIMDSIMD • Interactive mapping: http://simd.scot/2016/#/simd2016/BTTTFTT/9/-4.0000/55.9000/