Children's Services

Hampshire's Children and Young People's Plan

Key facts

Local index of child well-being

The 2009 England Index of Child Well-being ranked local authorities, based on outcomes for children and young people, in a number of areas of their lives. These were:

  • material well-being (based on levels of deprivation);
  • health (the proportion of children and young people who had emergency admissions to hospital, visited hospital as an outpatient, or receive disabled living allowance);
  • education (including Key Stage 2 and GCSE results);
  • crime (burglary, theft, criminal damage and violent crime);
  • housing (based on homelessness, overcrowding and lack of central heating);
  • environment (including air quality, amount of green space and opportunities for sport and leisure);
  • children in need (based on children who receive social care services).

Overall, the index demonstrates that Hampshire is a good place for children and young people to live, with nine districts in the top half of places to live in England and Hart ranked at number one. Further information on the Local Index of Child Well-being can be found at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/childwellbeing2009.

The full list of rankings for Hampshire is provided in table 1 below. District rankings are based on a comparison against all 354 of England’s local district authorities. The overall Hampshire ranking is based on a comparison against the 149 first-tier local authorities.

Table 1 - Ranking of Local Index of Child Well-being

District / Borough

Rank

Hart

1

Fareham

17

Winchester

21

East Hampshire

35

Eastleigh

64

Test Valley

72

New Forest

93

Basingstoke and Deane

122

Rushmoor

153

Gosport

229

Havant

271

Overall Hampshire rank

15

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Map of Hampshire

To provide some additional context, a map of Hampshire is shown in diagram 7, below.

Diagram 7: Map of Hampshire

Diagram 7

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Key facts

  • Hampshire is the third largest county in England in terms of population – 1.2 million people in 500,000 households (Quality of Life in Hampshire, 2008).

  • There are 309,000 children and young people aged under 19 in the county – approximately 25% of the population (2001 Census).

  • Life expectancy is generally above the national average and increasing, although the picture varies at district level - Gosport fell below the national average in 2004/06 (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, 2008).

  • There are 27,207 lone parent households in the county (2001 Census).

  • There are 30,000 service personnel in Hampshire, with an estimated 5,000 children in service families (2001 Census and Hampshire School Census 2007).

  • There are an estimated 187 Gypsy and Traveller families in the county (Hampshire and Isle of Wight Gypsy and Traveller Study, 2006).

  • People in Hart earn the highest average weekly wage in the county – people in Gosport earn the lowest (2001 Census).

  • 87% of people in Hampshire live in urban areas, although only 15% of the county is classified as urban (Hampshire Rural Profile, 2008).

  • 85% of Hampshire is rural (shown by the orange colour in diagram 8 below).

  • 3% of rural households have to travel more than five miles to access a secondary school (Hampshire Rural Profile, 2008).

Hampshire County Council's Rural Delivery Strategy

Diagram 8: Hampshire Rural Profile

Diagram 8

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Inspection findings

In March 2008, the Audit Commission found Hampshire to be in the highest quartile of all authorities in nearly half (44%) of the performance indicators relating to services for children and young people.

In the 2007 Joint Area Review (which inspected the services provided for vulnerable children and young people by the County Council and partner organisations), the arrangements for safeguarding children and young people and the services for children and young people in care were found to be good. Services for children and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities were all found to be good with some outstanding features (www.ofsted.gov.uk). The contribution of the Youth Service to the Every Child Matters outcomes was judged as outstanding.

Furthermore, in the 2008 Annual Performance Assessment Ofsted rated Hampshire’s Children’s Services as good, with good capacity for further improvement.

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Barriers faced by some children and young people

Despite Hampshire being a good place for children and young people to live, not every child and young person has the best possible start in life and has the support needed to develop to their full potential.  

As a result, significant variations in outcomes can occur for a proportion of Hampshire’s children and young people. Examples of these are shown below:

  • 46% of 16 year olds do not achieve five A*-C grade GCSEs including English and Maths (2007/08).
  • Only 24% of 16 year olds eligible for free school meals achieve five A*-C grade GCSEs, including Maths and English (2007/08).
  • 95% of children in care do not achieve five A*-C grade GCSEs including English and Maths (2007/08).
  • More 10-14 year olds are pedestrian casualties on Hampshire roads than any other age group, with 67 young casualties in 2007 (Hampshire County Council Environment Department, 2008).
  • Hampshire Constabulary recorded 12,496 criminal offences committed by children and young people under the age of 18, and 724 cases of violence by children under the age of 14 (2007).
  • 22% of Year 6 pupils, 24% of Year 7 pupils and 19% of Year 9 pupils reported that they had experienced bullying in school (Pupil Attitude Survey, 2008).

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