Leicester

Introduction

Recent Visits

• 13 March 2009 - Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Health Visited the Merlyn Vas Health Centre
• 26 January 2009 - Phil Hope MP, Minister of Sae (Care Services) and Minister for the East Midlands attended The National Space Centre for the Public Sector event organised by Jobcentre Plus
• 4 December 2008 - Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government visited a Pakistani and Community Centre

Map

Demographics for Leicester

Mid-2007 Population Estimates

Children and Learners

• attainment rates at Key Stage 2 decreased in English in 2007 and stayed the same in maths. Leicester is in the lower quartile for both and is the worst performing local authority in the country for English, and failing to close the gap with the average. Performance at Key Stage 3 is better
• Leicester has been allocated £48.2m over the period 2008-2011 to support the development of children's centres, early years and childcare provision

• 79.4% of schools are providing access to the full core offer of extended school services

• Leicester has been allocated a combined total of £1.76 million revenue and capital funding between April 2008 and March 2011 to transform services for the provision of short breaks for families with isabled children

• Leicester has been allocated £124.7m of capital funding during the period 1997/98 to 2007/08 and has been allocated a further £57m for 2008/09 to 2010/11

• between 1997/98 and 2007/08, 2 additional schools and 3 existing schools were newly built in Leicester. 8 schools have had at least 50% of their buildings refurbished during the same period

Health and Well Being

• the new £6.5m cancer facilities at Leicester Royal Infirmary opened in April 2006. New equipment installed in the expanded cancer hospital includes a CT (computerised tomography) scanner, an additional simulator for planning and an additional linear accelerator
•  the new £12.8m Charnwood Health & Social Care Centre is due to open in early 2009. This development is funded through the Leicester Local Improvement Finance Trust Public/Private Partnership

Crime

• Leicester is one of the four designated High Crime Areas in the East Midlands and is expected to secure a 22.5 per cent reduction in British Crime Survey comparator crimes by the end of March 2008 compared with the baseline of March 2004. In the year ending March 2007, Leicester had secured an 11.2 per cent reduction. The key challenges faced by local partners include violent crime and criminal damage
• in order to improve local partnership working and delivery, the local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and Drug and Alcohol Action Team merged on 1 April 2008 and became more closely aligned with the Youth Offending Team

• the local partnership used over £600,000 of Neighbourhood Renewal Funding (NRF) in 2007-08 to address violent crime, focussing on domestic violence and the alcohol-related violence in the city centre

Transport

• the Central Leicestershire second (2006-11) Local Transport Plan (LTP) was awarded £8.1m in the 2008-09 settlement (announced November 2007) for small (sub-£5m) integrated transport and maintenance schemes. The second LTP was assessed in 2006 as 'excellent' by the Department for Transport. Their delivery report covering 2001-06 was assessed as ‘very good’

• the City Council has won £1.85m of DfT/CLG CIF2 monies for the Waterside Development. Proposals for potential Ecotown at Pennbury has transport implications for Leicester.
• work started on the Upperton Road Viaduct scheme in April 2007 and is due to open in December 2008. Total cost currently £19.25m with a DfT contribution of £18.215m

• the Three Cities/Counties Transport Innovation Fund project, modelling and testing alternative road pricing schemes to tackle congestion in the sub-region, reported in April 2008. The authorities announced in May that, although they had decided not to submit a bid to DfT for further funding to implement a road pricing scheme, they would continue to work together to develop proposals to tackle congestion 

Social Inclusion and Regeneration

• £16.5m was allocated for 2004-06 through the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF), to improve public services in the most disadvantaged communities.

• £49.5m was awarded through the New Deal for Communities (NDC) scheme to the Braunstone Community Association, to support re-development and re-generation of the comunity
• a £6.3m Social Care Centre in Braunstone, opened in early 2006. It is being funded by NDC money to support the work of Leicester City West Primary Care Trust and other service providers in the re-development and re-generation of the community

• Communities and Local Government confirmed Leicester as part of the Three Cities new Growth Point (along with Nottingham and Derby) in October 2006, establishing a long term partnership for growth. £1.5m was secured for 2007-08 to upgrade the public realm of the Waterside and Abbey Meadows Leicester Regeneration Company intervention areas
• the Three Cities Growth Point has been awarded an additional £24.2m over 2008-11 to support the growth outlined in their Program of Development

European Funding

• Leicester Economic Regeneration Partnership was allocated over £16m of European Regional Development Fund for the period 2000-06 for projects in the Leicester area
• the Learning and Skills Council in Leicestershire was awarded nearly £2.5m of Objective 3 European Social Fund (ESF) for 2002, over £6.4m for 2003-05 and a further £17.5m for 2004-06
• East Midlands Job Centre Plus was awarded approximately £10.3m funding from the Objective 3 ESF for 2003–05, and a further £10.5m for 2004-06 to support projects across the region, including Leicestershire

Source: Office for National Statistics. Last updated 23 June 2009

Internet links

• Neighbourhood Statistics
• Regional Snapshot