Gloucester

Introduction

Gloucester is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire, situated on the River Severn in the north of the South West region. Gloucester City is one of six district authorities which make up Gloucestershire County. The Gloucester urban area extends into neighbouring Tewkesbury and Stroud Districts, and is the fifth largest urban area in the South West. The town of Cheltenham, just a few miles to the east of Gloucester, is of similar size.

The city is linked to the Severn Estuary by the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, which still sees some commercial use.  Gloucester Docks are being regenerated into a mixed housing and leisure use, with a new Further Education campus just to the south. Gloucester is just off the M5 and main rail line running north, with the A40 running east to west. Gloucestershire has a small commercial airport at Staverton, between Gloucester and Cheltenham, mostly used for private business flights. Gloucestershire as a county has relatively high productivity levels, including a healthy manufacturing sector. Other key sectors in the county are banking, insurance and business services. Both the City and County councils have offices in Gloucester city centre.

Major flooding was experienced throughout Gloucestershire in July 2007, affecting some 1,000 households in Gloucester, 1,500 in Tewkesbury, and 1,200 in Cheltenham and the Cotswolds. The majority of households were back in their own property by July 2008, though a number still remain displaced.

Recent Visits

• on 2 April 2009, Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Food, Farming and Rural Affairs, attended a Ministerial Roundtable at the Royal Agricultural College
• On 13 October 2008, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith attended a Police Conference.

Demographics for Gloucester

Mid-2007 Population Estimates

Figures updated annually. Last update February 2009. Source: Office for National Statistics.

Children and Learners

Gloucestershire and its schools have capital allocation of £35.4m for 2008-09, which will rise to £48.2m in 2010-11. Allocations for the three years 2008-09 to 2010-11, including ICT and the new primary programme, will amount in total to £126.0m.

Health and Well Being

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, granted Foundation Trust Status as of July 2004, was amongst the first hospital trusts to become a Foundation Trust. The trust comprises Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Cheltenham General Hospital, and Delancey Assessment and Rehabilitation Hospital, and serves the whole of Gloucestershire and parts of neighbouring counties.

Crime

• Gloucester has been named as one of 40 priority Respect Action Areas in England, for being a council who has a strong record in tackling anti-social behaviour. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is also backing the scheme with £6m of funding in 2007-08 for parenting classes in the 40 areas
• for 2007-08, the Gloucestershire Local Area Agreement (LAA) was allocated £884,000 from the Safer Stronger Communities Fund (SSCF) block of their LAA grant, which was formerly made up from the Building Safer Communities Fund, Anti-Social Behaviour and the Partnership Support Grant. A portion of this grant will be used in Gloucester city to tackle crime and drugs in the community, in partnership with the Drugs Action Team, based on priorities identified in the Gloucester City LAA
• the Forest and Gloucester City Basic Command Unit (BCU) was allocated £169,000 in BCU Funding to help deliver crime and disorder reduction locally, and to promote partnership working
• in 2008-09, the Gloucestershire Drugs Action Team was allocated, under the Drugs Intervention Programme Revised Main Grant, a grant of over £366,000, and this level of funding will be maintained for 2009-10 to enable implementation of local delivery of the updated National Drugs Strategy

Transport

• £21.4m of funding has been allocated to Gloucestershire County Council as part of the Local Transport Plan funding settlement for 2009-10
• Gloucestershire County Council are currently preparing a major scheme to provide a new park and ride site at Elmbridge, together with bus priority measures between the site and Gloucester and Cheltenham
• the Department for Transport has provided £10m as an interim payment to Gloucestershire County Council to reflect the damage caused to transport infrastructure by the flooding in July 2007. A further payment of £6.5m was made in July 2008 once assessment of the damage had been completed
• the Highways Agency has decided not to proceed with de-trunking the A40 which runs east-west to the north of the city, as it was unable to agree satisfactory terms with Gloucestershire County Council

Social Inclusion and Regeneration 

The Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company, supported by the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), is responsible for a massive regeneration programme for the city over the next ten years. This will include the restoration of over 90 heritage buildings and the redevelopment of nearly 100 hectares of largely derelict land in Gloucester's historic city centre and waterfront areas

European Funding

The new 2007-13 European Funding programme is under development, and project operation will start shortly.

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

Internet links

• Neighbourhood Statistics
• Regional Snapshot