The statistic is revealed in Regional Sustainable Development Indicators - Results for the English Regions which was published by Defra and the Office for National Statistics to help provide a regional perspective of sustainable development.
The statistic is revealed in Regional Sustainable Development Indicators - Results for the English Regions which is published today by Defra and the Office for National Statistics to help provide a regional perspective of sustainable development.
The report also reveals that the North West has:
* the second highest density of new dwellings on previously developed land;
* the highest level of household waste produced per person;
* amongst the lowest productivity (gross value added per workforce job);
* the highest experience of burglary (as estimated from the British Crime Survey);
* the largest increase in the proportion of local sites assessed to have unsatisfactory or poor local environment quality; and
* among the highest proportion of households perceiving difficulties in getting to a doctor or hospital without a car.
To support the new UK Government Sustainable Development Strategy, 'Securing the Future' (published in March 2005), there is a suite of 68 national sustainable development indicators. For 46 of these indicators, for which regional data are available, it has been possible to produce regional versions for the Government Office Regions.
The indicators highlight issues within the priority areas of Sustainable Consumption and Production, Natural Resources, and Sustainable Communities. Other indicators provide useful contextual information.
Key findings
* Every region has shown improvement in a number of areas during the last decade.
* With a few exceptions, every region is moving in the same direction as the national trends.
* There is no single region that is in the best or worst position for all of the indicators.
* For every region there are areas where they are in a better position and areas where they are in a worse position, relative to other regions.
The North West details can be accessed at North West (PDF 175 KB). For each of the nine Government Office Regions, these explain and assess progress against each indicator in more detail.
