Norwich

Introduction

Recent Visits

Map

Demographics for Norwich

Mid-2007 Population Estimates

Children and Learners

• Over the next 3 years (2005-06 to 2007-08) £34.5m has been allocated to school building projects in the Central Area, which covers Norwich and the suburbs. Projects include, £5m for a new 315 place primary school in Dussindale, Thorpe St Andrew, £7.5m to bring a current split site high school onto one site at Blyth Jex High School, and £20m for reorganisation of schools in the Central Area.

Health and Well Being

• the £229m Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) opened in late 2001, it has 987 beds, and has some of the most up-to-date cancer diagnosis and treatment technology in Europe
• NNUH is also home to the Norwich Radiology Academy which opened in February 2006, one of only three radiology training academies in the country
• the new network pathology laboratories opend in July 2005.

Crime

Norwich met its Public Service Agreement 1 target to cut crime during the 3 years to April 2007-08. The latest unpublished data from the British Crime Survey (BCS) shows that crime fell 9 per in the 12 months to October 2008 compared to the previous 12 months. Around 40 per cent of BCS crime in Norwich is criminal damage.

Norwich, like many other cities, has seen an explosion in alcohol-related offending. A thriving evening/night-time economy, Norwich city centre is one of the busiest in the region, attracting revellers from across East Anglia.

The night-time economy mirrors the retail economy; the City Council estimates that between 20,000 and 25,000 people take advantage of the nightlife on offer in Norwich each weekend evening. Norwich are working with the Home Office through the Tackling Violent Crime Programme to minimise the impacts of the night time economy, initiatives include developing a taxi marshal scheme on Friday and Saturday nights as well as during the Christmas period.

Safer Communities funding in Norwich is channelled through the Norfolk Local Area Agreement (LAA), they have set county priorities to tackle repeat incidents of domestic violence and how Anti Social Behaviour is dealt with by local agencies. 

Transport

• The local transport block capital allocations for Norfolk are:

The A11 in Norfolk: Thetford to Five Ways

• his is the last remaining single carriageway section of trunk road between London and Norwich. The scheme was included in the region’s RFA at £101m (HA advise that costs have risen substantially to £151m) but was not due to be completed before 2014 
• The East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) have recently asked the Department for Transport to advance delivery of the scheme as a result of a review of the progress of the RFA programme as a whole to allow it to take advantage of spare financial capacity created by slippage of other schemes. Subsequently, Transport secretary Geoff Hoon has announced the planned start date for the dualling of the A11 has been brought forward to 2010

Social Inclusion and Regeneration

The 10 year NDC programme is in its penultimate year. Succession Planning is underway and a successor body will take over from the NELM Development Trust when Communities and Local Government funding ends in March 2010.

The largest current project in the NELM Delivery Plan is the Henderson Business Centre phase 2. This will create an additional 1100m2 of light industrial workspace and will create up to 40 new jobs over the next two years. A Communities and Local Government grant of £558,263 and an EEDA grant of £500,000 are paying for construction and first year running costs. The new centre will open in April 2009.

The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) ended in Norwich in March 2008. A two year transitional grant worth £1,653,000 has been awarded to ensure that projects funded through NRF are properly mainstreamed. The six mandatory outcomes for Neighbourhood Renewal have been incorporated into the Norfolk LAA.

European Funding

Norwich has three years Local Enterprise Growth Initiative funding (LEGI) worth £6,328,000 for the period April 2008 until March 2011. A key initiative is the Enterprise Centre, which opened in May 2008 and is in a prime location in the heart of the city. It is already attracting significant interest from potential local entrepreneurs and established businesses.  From opening to the end of September, 704 individuals visited the centre, 19 external organisations are using the centre for training, hot-desking or meetings. The Business Advisor (for business management) has supported 232 clients and the service is reaching the target groups of NEET young people, disabled, women, over 50s, and economically inactive.  22 new businesses have been created.

European Social Fund

• over £23m has been allocated to the Learning and Skills Council Norfolk, the main Co-financing Organisation within Norfolk and Norwich
• over £860,000 has been allocated to extend the New Deal ESF project in the city to help the long-term unemployed 
• more than £360,000 has been awarded to help Norfolk County Council increase training for childcare employees 
• over £332,000 has been allocated towards providing an advice and learning service for adults with multiple deprivation within the Thorpe Hamlet area, building on the nationally funded Sure Start programme 
• the new ESF programme covering 2007-2013 has now started with activity commencing in June 2008. The majority of activity is Co-financed, with DWP, LSC and EEDA operating in Norwich as Co-financing Organisations within the new programme. A total of £95m has been released across the region for the period 2007-2010 to fund activity linked to extending employment opportunities for those not in work, particularly those on inactive benefits and supporting the development of a skilled and adaptable workforce.

Source: Office for National Statistics. Last updated 26 June 2009

Internet links

• Neighbourhood Statistics
• Regional Snapshot