CHAPTER ONE
LOCAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC /
DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT
Chapter One – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
1.0
Area
1.1
This chapter gives a brief introduction to the geography and
demographics of the City of Westminster. This sets the context for all
the City Council’s policies and proposals.
The City of Westminster is a central London Borough that is bordered
by the London Borough of Brent to the north, the London Borough of
Camden and the Corporation of London in the east, the Royal
Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west and the London
Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth to the south.
1.2
Within its 2,204 hectares (8.51 square miles), the City of Westminster
takes in Regent’s Park to the north, Hyde Park to the west, and
Covent Garden to the east. To the south the boundary follows the
River Thames, as illustrated in map one.
1.3
The whole of the City of Westminster is located in London’s central
sub-region (along with the Royal Borough of Kensington and
Chelsea, and the London Boroughs of Camden, Islington,
Wandsworth, Lambeth and Southwark), as identified in the London
Plan, and is the heart of the UK’s capital city. The City of
Westminster is home to the Monarchy, the Government and many
Commonwealth High Commissions and foreign embassies and has a
designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
1.4
The City’s diverse built environment blends original buildings retained
from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with contemporary
architecture, much of which has been constructed to the highest
standard. 76% of the City is covered by the 53 Conservation Areas
and some 10,300 of the City’s buildings are listed as being of special
architectural or historic interest.
1.5
A combination of these factors and others outlined in this chapter
means that Westminster City Council makes a substantial
contribution to sustaining London’s status as a World Class City.
1
Chapter one – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
Map 1.1: Map of the City of Westminster
2
Chapter One – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
Population
1.6
The City of Westminster has a resident population of 222,0001. The
age structure of the City’s resident population can be found in table
one below and is illustrated in figure one. These figures illustrate that
a very high proportion, 45%, of Westminster’s population is aged
between 20 and 39 years. In addition, Westminster has a far smaller
proportion of children (15%) and older people (12%) 2 compared with
the English average of 22% and 16% respectively.
Table 1.1: Age Structure of Westminster’s resident population
PERSONS
ALL AGES
Under 1
1-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80-84
85-89
90+
222,000
2600
8600
8900
7500
11500
23300
29800
27400
20700
15100
11400
11000
11200
8000
7100
6200
5000
3700
1900
1000
MALES
111,000
1300
4500
4500
3900
5900
10600
15300
14800
11000
7900
5600
5300
5500
3900
3400
2900
2200
1500
700
300
FEMALES
111,000
1200
4200
4400
3600
5600
12700
14500
12700
9600
7200
5800
5700
5700
4100
3700
3300
2800
2200
1300
700
3
Chapter one – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
Figure 1.1: Age Structure of Westminster’s resident population
Mid 2003 Population - Westminster
85-89
75-79
Age Groups
65-69
55-59
45-49
Female
35-39
Male
25-29
15-19
5-9
Under 1
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
Resident Population
Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred persons. Therefore totals may not agree.
1.7
The high mobility of the Westminster population, both within the UK
and internationally, gives rise to very changeable population
dynamics. It also makes the population particularly difficult to count.
In the 2001 census, some areas of the borough experienced
significant enumeration difficulties.
1.8
However, in addition to providing for the City’s residents the City
Council also has to seek to accommodate the needs of visitors to the
City. With a high number of workers and tourists coming into the City
of Westminster each day, the population of Westminster swells to
over 1 million. Together with the City’s unique economic
characteristics, this brings a whole raft of service demands,
disproportionate to those of a borough with a comparable residential
population base.
Ethnicity
1.9
The diversity of Westminster’s ethnic profile is unique in England and
is illustrated below in figure two. Almost half of Westminster’s
residents are White British, and another fifth White from outside the
UK and Ireland. The other main ethnic groups in the City in
descending order of size, are ‘other’, Black African, Irish, Black
Caribbean, Indian and Chinese.
1.10
4
There is an increasing trend towards a very mixed population. This is
evident when the ethnic profile of the population is examined. 30% of
the population are from non white Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)
communities, which rises to 44% for children3. More specifically, the
ethnicity of 10 to 19 year old residents is significantly different from
Chapter One – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
the adult population, and currently white British residents comprise
37% of this group.
1.11
The range of languages that are spoken by the population further
demonstrates the diversity of the population. 65.17% of pupils in
Westminster’s schools speak a first language other than English. The
top ten languages spoken by pupils at home (of which there are 150)
apart from English are Arabic, Bengali/ Sylheti, Albanian, Portuguese,
Spanish, Kurdish, Persian/Farsi, French, Somali and Yoruba.
Figure 1.2: Westminster’s resident ethnicity profile
Other
Chinese
4%
2%
Asian
9%
Black
7%
White British
49%
Mixed
4%
White Other
21%
White Irish
4%
The economy and the business sector
1.12
The City of Westminster’s diversity is mirrored in its business profile.
Westminster is one of Europe’s most prestigious business locations
and houses the international headquarters of many multinational
organisations. It also has 40% of all hotels in Greater London located
within it. At the other end of the scale, the plethora of small
businesses in Westminster plays an equally important part in the
economy. In addition the City has a diverse voluntary sector and a
fragile community sector.
1.13
Westminster has a linchpin role in the national economy and the
economy of Greater London, creating 2.2% and 12.4% of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) respectively. The GDP in Westminster has
experienced a significant growth of 10% in the period between 1998
and 2003 and GDP is currently estimated at £17 billion. Despite this
the City Council profits relatively little from the wealth generated
locally, with the majority of the business rates retained by central
Government.
1.14
As stated above, the population of Westminster swells daily to over 1
million people. This serves to stimulate the local economy, but at the
same time stretches the capacity of the infrastructure to its limits and
5
Chapter one – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
places enormous burdens on transport (particularly road safety) and
other services.
Tourism
1.15
Tourism has become an increasingly important economic sector a nd
the City of Westminster includes within its boundaries some of
London’s most prestigious landmarks and districts, including
Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Big
Ben, Marble Arch, Mayfair, Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, Soho and
Trafalgar Square. Westminster has four of the ten leading free public
attractions and four of the ten leading paid attractions in Greater
London. The most popular visitor attractions in the City of
Westminster are the National Gallery and Westminster Abbey. They
attract approximately 4 million visitors each, per year.
1.16
The total numbers of visitors to London fluctuate from year to year,
but there has been a general upward trend, particularly during the
last few years. Overall visitor numbers have almost doubled since
1991, rising from 15 million to an estimated 28 million in 2000. It is
now estimated that approximately 30 million people visit London each
year, with 95% of those people visiting Westminster, representing a
total of approximately 28.5 million people per year. A large
proportion of visitors will not only visit the City of Westminster, but
also stay in it as Westminster has 40% of London’s hotel bed spaces.
1.17
The City Council wishes to maintain Westminster’s position as an
internationally renowned tourist, arts, cultural and entertainment
centre offering a wide range of facilities.
1.18
The City of Westminster is home to the heart of ‘Theatreland’, concert
halls and opera houses, the West End cinemas, national and more
specialist art collections and museums and galleries. It also has an
unrivalled range of entertainment facilities including 2,590 bars, pubs
and restaurants, almost 200 premises with a night café licence and
almost 400 premises with a music and dance licence. It also forms
the main focus of London’s casino industry. Many of these functions
are linked with, for example, visitors combining trips to the theatre
with eating out or shopping in central Westminster.
Employment
1.19
In 2003 there were more than 46,000 workplaces in Westminster
providing employment for over 547,000 people, comprising
approximately 14% of employment in London and 2.45% of Great
Britain’s. Westminster provides a place of employment to more
people and contains more firms than any other borough in Great
Britain. Despite employment dropping by 7,005 (-1.26%) from the
previous year (2002), Westminster maintained its position as
London’s largest employment centre.
6
Chapter One – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
1.20
Employment distribution is not evenly distributed throughout the City.
The St James’s Ward (173,127) and West End Ward (171,342)
provide the employment location for more than 60% of all those
employed in Westminster, and 8.81% of all employees within Greater
London.
Unemployment
1.21
Despite the number of jobs based in the City of Westminster and the
decline in the unemployment rate since its peak in 1994, over 4,000
Westminster residents are unemployed. This results in an
unemployment rate of 3.1%, which is 0.7% higher than the English
unemployment rate of 2.4% 4.
1.22
As with employment, there are areas of the City that experience
higher levels of unemployment in comparison to others. These have
been identified as “hotspot” areas as they exceed the London norm.
Examples of these areas are the Church Street and Queen’s Park
wards, where unemployment levels are significantly higher at 8.8%
and 7.4% respectively5.
Figure 1.3 : Unemployment in Westminster – claimant count, 1991 - 2004
7
Chapter one – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
Car Ownership
1.23
Car ownership in Westminster has been rising for a number of years
and is expected to continue to do so. In 1991 42% of households
had a car or van available, by 2001 this had increased to 44%. In
absolute terms, the number of households with cars has risen from
83,069 households in 1991 to 91,172 in 2001.
1.24
8
A more detailed breakdown of car ownership is given in table two
below.
Chapter One – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
Table 1.2: Levels of Car ownership in the City of Westminster
1991 and 2001
Census Results
Church Street
Churchill
St. James's
Lancaster Gate
West End
Westbourne
Vincent Square
Tachbrook
Harrow Road
Bryanston and Dorset
Square
Queen's Park
Marylebone High
Street
Warwick
Bayswater
Hyde Park
Regent's Park
Maida Vale
Little Venice
Abbey Road
Knightsbridge and
Belgravia
WESTMINSTER
CITY
All
All
1991 % of
Households Households Households
1991
2001
with no car
2001 % of
Change in % 1991 - Total
2001 Change in
Households of households No of Cars Total No of Number of
with no car
with no car
Cars
Cars from
from 1991 to
1991 to
2001
2001
68.0%
1.3%
1605
1030
-575
64.5%
-8.4%
1220
1771
551
63.9%
-0.7%
1289
2009
720
61.9%
-1.4%
2318
2973
655
61.7%
-4.5%
1644
2040
396
61.5%
-2.1%
1528
1959
431
61.0%
-3.3%
1449
2033
584
58.9%
0.4%
1873
2465
592
58.6%
-4.8%
1844
1979
135
58.3%
-0.5%
2324
2856
532
3880
4021
2934
5201
3393
4100
3365
3778
4165
4629
2756
4080
4421
6425
4183
4442
4306
5028
4001
5478
66.7%
72.9%
64.6%
63.3%
66.2%
63.6%
64.2%
58.5%
63.4%
58.8%
4592
4048
3849
4793
68.2%
57.1%
57.9%
56.9%
-10.4%
-0.2%
1672
2177
1949
2603
277
426
4009
4732
4106
4970
4203
4260
4856
3827
4642
4537
5018
5774
4579
3939
4690
4231
52.9%
58.6%
52.4%
52.9%
51.8%
48.7%
41.5%
33.2%
56.8%
54.5%
54.1%
54.1%
49.6%
45.7%
44.2%
39.4%
3.9%
-4.1%
1.7%
1.1%
-2.2%
-3.0%
2.7%
6.2%
2335
2377
2488
3013
2458
2766
3766
3479
2445
2480
2914
3329
2772
2693
3518
3498
110
103
426
316
314
-73
-248
19
83069
91172
57.7%
56.4%
-1.3%
43625
49316
5691
9
Chapter one – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
Deprivation
1.25
The Indices of Deprivation 2004 (ID 2004) provide a measure of
deprivation for every local authority area and super output area in
England. The latest Index of Multiple Deprivation (2004) has
revealed that Westminster is ranked as the 39th most deprived district
out of England’s 354 districts and 9 th when compared with the 33
London boroughs. This deprivation is primarily concentrated in the
north of the City although there are significant pockets of deprivation
elsewhere, particularly near the southern boundary. This is illustrated
in map 2 below.
1.26
10
Super Output Area Levels (SOAs) contain between 16-25% of a
ward’s population and form more detailed geographic boundaries
than wards. They are a much more effective way of identifying the
small areas of deprivation that exist in wards, but can be masked by
areas of affluence. There are 32,483 SOAs in England. The City of
Westminster has 120 SOAs in 20 Wards. Of these, 21 SOA.s are in
the top 10% most deprived in England, and a further 21 SOAs are in
the top 20%. These indices suggest that deprivation is most
concentrated in Church Street and the northwest wards. Deprivation
in the south is concentrated in Churchill Ward.
Chapter One – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
Map 1.2: Index of Multiple Deprivation within the City of Westminster
11
Chapter one – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
The City Council
1.27
The City Council has a total of 60 elected Members, 48 Conservative
councillors and 12 Labour councillors. The City Council operates
under a cabinet structure where each Cabinet Member has individual
decision-making powers within a given portfolio decided by the
Leader. These powers include policy matters, staff resources
matters and the award of contracts. These decisions are usually the
subject of consultation with the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member
for Finance or the Chief Whip and Cabinet Member for Planning and
Customer Services (or, in their absence, two other Cabinet
Members).
1.28
Decisions by individual Members of the Cabinet are taken on the
basis of officers' reports setting out relevant legal, financial, technical
and other professional officer advice. Decisions must be efficient,
transparent and accountable to local people.
1.29
The Cabinet is formed of 10 Members and the Leader of the Council
chairs meetings of the Cabinet. The current portfolios are:
• Economic Development and Transport;
• Social and Community Services;
• Street Environment;
• Schools;
• Customer Services;
• Housing;
• Community Protection and Licensing;
• Finance and Contracts; and
• Leisure and Life Long Learning.
1.30
In May 2002 changes were implemented to the Ward boundaries of
the City and 20 electoral Wards now cover Westminster. The
boundaries of these wards are illustrated in map 3 below.
12
Chapter One – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
Map 1.3: Ward boundaries of the City of Westminster
13
Chapter one – Local Socio-economic / demographic context
Conclusions
1.31
This chapter demonstrates that the City of Westminster is a diverse
and dynamic city and has a key role in sustaining London’s World
Class City status. There are already a high number of demands
being placed on the City’s services in terms of the public realm,
public transport and facilities because the daytime population swells
to over 1 million people and many tourists stay in the City of
Westminster as it has over 40% of London’s hotels. In light of
predicted population increases and increases in employment
opportunities and visitor numbers these demands are going to
increase. Therefore significant investment in the City of Westminster
and appropriate management techniques are required to
accommodate the diverse demands as far as possible.
1
Office of National Statistic’s (ONS) 2003 mid-year estimates
Census 2001
3
Census 2001
4
Source NOMIS May 2004
5
Source NOMIS May 2004
2
14