Prospects
Why is this important?
Understanding Coventry's economic, cultural, educational, and early childhood prospects can help us better understand the effects these factors have on the wellbeing of the local populations. A person's lifelong health, happiness, and productivity are affected by preventable health inequalities that can arise during pregnancy, childbirth, and the early years.
Best Start in Life
Why is this important?
“Giving every child the best start in life is crucial for securing health and reducing health inequalities across the life course. The foundations for virtually every aspect of human development – physical, intellectual and emotional – are laid in early childhood. What happens during these early years, starting in the womb, has life-long effects on many aspects of health and well-being”. - Sir Michael Marmot
What is the local picture? How does it compare?
Avoidable differences in health emerge by the time a child reaches the age of five. In Tile Hill, a lower percentage of children (44.1%) achieve a good level of development by age 5 compared to the Coventry (61.1%) and national average (65.2%). Tile Hill has one of the lowest percentages of all areas in Coventry.
A child’s level of development is assessed at the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) on early learning goals in the prime areas of learning: personal, social, and emotional development; physical development; and communication and language and the early learning goals in the specific areas of mathematics and literacy.
Antenatal appointments are scheduled at specific intervals throughout pregnancy to monitor the health and well-being of both mother and child. The proportion of first appointments that take place within 12 weeks is better than the city average overall. In 2022-23, 83.5% of expectant mothers from Tile Hill attended a first antenatal appointment within 12 weeks, higher than the city average of 80.3%. Although, this has been on a declining trend since 2020-2021 when rates were 87.7%.
The proportion of children who received a review by the time they are 2 ½ years old is lower than the city average. All children and families should receive a review by a health visitor when the child reaches around 2 to 2½ years. This allows for an integrated review of their health and development. A lower-than-average proportion of children from Tile Hill of this age received a timely health visitor review in 2022-23, 70% compared to 75% across Coventry overall.
Smoking during pregnancy can have serious and harmful effects on both mother and baby, there are higher rates of maternal smoking at delivery in this area. The percentage of new mothers smoking at the time of delivery in the 4 years between 2019/20 and 2022/23 was 16.4% in Tile Hill compared to 10.5% across Coventry overall. The rates are higher than average in this area and it is also amongst the higher rates across the city’s neighbourhoods.
Breastfeeding prevalence is lower than the Coventry average amongst mothers from Tile Hill, amongst the lower rates across the city’s neighbourhoods. In 2022-23, 56.7% of new mothers-initiated breastfeeding within 48 hours of birth, significantly lower than the Coventry average (72.2%). Lower than average rates persist beyond the first days of birth; when visited for their 6-8 weeks check, a relatively low proportion of infants were still totally or partially breastfeeding, 50% of infants in Tile Hill in 2023 compared to 58% across Coventry overall. It is known that rates of breastfeeding are generally higher amongst women from ethnic minority groups, and Tile Hill is an ethnically less diverse area where the population is made up of a lower proportion of people from ethnic minority groups compared to Coventry, a diverse city overall.
In Tile Hill, uptake of funded early years childcare for all children aged two, three and four is higher than the Coventry average. Two-year-olds whose parents are in receipt of certain benefits are entitled to 15 hours of free early education per week. Additionally, all three- and four-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours free education.
In 2023, the 2-year-old uptake in Tile Hill was significantly higher at 90% compared to 75% Coventry overall and 72% nationally. Similarly, the 3- & 4-year-old take up was 91%, above the Coventry average of 88% and national average at 92%.
The percentage of children under the age of 16 who live in relative poverty in Tile Hill is higher than city average. The percentage of children living in ‘relative poverty’ in Tile Hill in 2021/22 is 27.4%, amounting to an estimated 376 children, this is higher than 26.7% for Coventry and 19.9% for England. This has been on an increasing trend in Coventry, and elsewhere, since 2014/15. Improving access to support and services whilst addressing the root causes of relative poverty can work to provide better opportunities for children to thrive.
The Tile Hill North area (37.7%) has higher rates for children living in relative poverty compared to the Tile Hill South area (20.3%).
What else is happening? What else can be done?
Health visitors can help children and families make the best start in life. NHS Health visitors are very active in the area. They visit all parents with children under the age of 5 in the city and offer health promotion and write developmental reviews during their home visits to promote childhood development. Schools, faith groups and community centres can work together to help reach socially isolated families, helping bring support to those who need it.
“Strengthen early help & social care. Work with partners to support migrant communities. Offer free to access opportunities to learn English.”
The Family Hub (Mosaic) is as an asset in the community. The Family Hub helps co-ordinate early intervention and support. By bringing together different professionals such as, Health visitors, social workers, midwives, police, and others the hub can offer holistic and tailored support to families who face challenges.
Education and skills
Poor work chances, social alienation, and difficulties with mental and physical health are just a few of the social disadvantages that people could potentially face later in life as a result of low educational attainment and low expectations. By supporting high levels of educational attainment and boosting their expectations, these barriers can be removed so that children and young people realise their full potential in life.
There have been significant disruptions to education over recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing schools to close and move to digital classrooms. It is fair to say that this has had an impact on education and some children’s school readiness as a result. Therefore, the Department of Education are reluctant to directly compare attainment statistics between 2019-2022, we have included some for your information here.
What is the local picture? How does it compare?
There are two primary schools, and one secondary school academy located in Tile Hill. As of May 2023, both primary schools had received a ‘good’ rating from their last inspection, and the secondary school academy was rated ‘requires improvement’ when it was last inspected in 2019. Since then, the secondary school academy received a ‘good’ Ofsted rating in an inspection later in 2023.
In May 2023, a relatively low proportion of children who live in Tile Hill attended a good or outstanding school. 69.4% of children attended a school that has been inspected and rated as “good” or “outstanding”, 24.6% attended a school with the rating “requires improvement” or “inadequate” and 6.1% attended a school that hadn’t been recently inspected. This means that 73.8% of those whose school had been inspected attend a good or outstanding school, lower than the city average of 83.5%. As noted above, the secondary school academy located in the area subsequently received a ‘good’ rating later in 2023, so it may be that a higher proportion of local children attend a good or outstanding school now.
The number of pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) is higher than the city average (18.2%). In 2023, 21.1% of children living in Tile Hill were SEN pupils. SEN can be divided into two types, those with a Statement or an Education, Health & Care (EHC) plan; and those with SEN support. In total 229 children were identified as SEN pupils, 4.1% were in receipt of an EHC plan, slightly higher than the city average of 3.4%, and 17.0% were receiving SEN support, higher than the city average of 14.9%.
There is some variation between neighbourhoods in the area, the ‘Tile Hill North – Jardine Delius’ neighbourhood, the neighbourhood of Tile Hill with the highest levels of multiple deprivation, has a particularly high number, with 24.5% of children in this area being SEN students, it is amongst the areas with the highest rates in the city.
Tile Hill’s attainment performance at the end of year 6 (key stage 2) is similar to the Coventry average and below the national average. In 2022, 56% of pupils from Tile Hill at the end of year 6 met the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined, compared to 54% for Coventry as a whole and 59% for England.
There is a variation between the areas across Tile Hill; 71% of students living in the neighbourhood ‘Bannerpark East - Tile Hill Woods, Hawthorn Lane’ achieved the expected standard in 2022 and this is above city’s average; but significantly below average in the ‘Tile Hill North – Jardine Delius’ neighbourhood, the neighbourhood of Tile Hill with the highest levels of multiple deprivation, at 36%.
At key stage 4, the average attainment 8 scores for pupils living in Tile Hill is lower than the city average. Based on attainment 8 scores, which are an average score used to measure an individual student's progress across their 8 best performing subjects taken at GCSE level, the average attainment 8 score for pupils in Tile Hill in 2022 was 42.2, compared to 46.2 in Coventry and 48.9 in England overall.
Pupils living in the ‘Tile Hill North – Jardine Delius’ neighbourhood, the neighbourhood of Tile Hill with the highest levels of multiple deprivation, had one of the lower average attainment 8 scores out of all neighbourhoods across the city at 34.2. It is notable that educational achievement is similar to or even slightly higher than the city average in Tile Hill at age 11 but by age 16 it is lower.
Free school meals eligibility in Coventry continues to increase, and a relatively high number of pupils from Tile Hill are eligible. 35.6% of pupils living in Tile Hill were entitled to free school meals in January 2023, compared to 24.8% across Coventry. There are differences between Tile Hill neighbourhoods, 40.1% of those living in ‘Tile Hill North- Jardine Delius’ are eligible compared to 29.2% of pupils from the neighbourhood ‘Tile Hill Lane South – Gravel Hill’ are eligible in the city.
More people living in Tile Hill have little or no qualifications, compared to the city average. A lack of qualifications may make it more difficult for someone to find more fulfilling work in the city or reduce their chances of getting positions based in Coventry as the city's jobs become more competitive and demand higher skilled workers. 20.3% of residents aged 16+ in Tile Hill who do not have any qualifications, this is higher than Coventry (19.4%) and England (18.1%).
25.7% of Tile Hill’s population aged 16+ are qualified to level 4 or above, which means they have a foundation degree or above, lower than the city (30.3%) and national average (33.9%). There is variation in neighbourhoods; ‘Tile Hill Lane South- Gravel Hill’ (31.7%) area has more qualified people to level 4 or above, compared to ‘Tile Hill North - Jardine Delius’ (20.3%).
What else is happening? What else can be done?
Making skill-based learning more accessible could bridge the gap between education and employment. Ensuring residents have access and an understanding of what educational resources are on offer as well as working in partnership with local businesses to provide apprenticeships ensures individuals are equipped with the necessary skills for the workplace.
“More educational centres built to make courses to learn skills more locally available and plentiful (apprenticeships is a good start) and create more partnerships with local businesses so there are places apprentices can work in the field.”
Incentivising these graduates to stay in the city by creating a robust job market is seen as essential for the city’s future development. Some residents noted that attracting different industries in the city, particularly in emerging sectors like renewable energy is important to retain graduates. Providing high-quality jobs would not only benefit the graduates but also stimulate economic growth and innovation within the community.
Youth engagement and support are seen as crucial for preventing young people from getting into trouble. Working with youth club leaders to provide constructive activities and guidance for young people is suggested as a way to keep them engaged and on a positive path.
“Focus should also be given to encouraging upcoming industry into the city, especially in the renewables sector. The city has two highly regarded Universities, with thousands of skilled graduates every year, and they should be encouraged to remain in the city through the incentive of high-quality jobs.”
Libraries and community centres provide people with opportunities to improve their skills and education. Employment advisers are available to discuss finding employment and interview techniques. The library is also an asset with conversation cafes and opportunities to learn to speak English. The library also supports children through programmes such as Bookstart. Through Bookstart, children of preschool age receive a free information pack containing a variety of activities, guidance for parents and a book. This is in the hopes that good literacy habits will be formed at a much younger age. Rhyme times are also an opportunity for the formation of good literacy habits and encourage the development of language and social skills amongst babies and toddlers.
Adult education offers opportunities across the city for adults to engage and learn. The Adult Education Service in Coventry offers a choice of courses in a wide range of subjects. Each year thousands of people take the opportunity to learn a new skill, gain a qualification, find out more about something they are interested in, or simply make new friends and is based at Tile Hill Library.
“To assist with youngsters and keep them away from trouble working with youth club leaders may help”
“More basic skills provision to support those most deprived to develop and progress to assist with economic growth of the area.”
Economy
Why is this important?
A protective factor for health is having meaningful employment. Reducing avoidable health disparities will involve tackling the unequal distribution of money, wealth, and power by improving opportunities and skills.
What is the local picture? How does it compare?
Tile Hill areas have higher levels of multiple deprivation than most other areas of Coventry. Out of four neighbourhoods (LSOAs) that make up Tile Hill, two are amongst the most deprived 10% of all neighbourhood across England, and the other two are amongst most deprived 30%. The area of Tile Hill where people experience the highest levels of multiple deprivation, the neighbourhood ‘‘Tile Hill North- Jardine Delius’, is one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in Coventry.
Over half (51%) of the Tile Hill population live in neighbourhoods (LSOAs) that are amongst the most deprived 10% LSOAs in England. The map below illustrates that half of the four neighbourhoods across Tile Hill are amongst the most deprived 10% of areas in England, those in the darkest red colour.
Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019, Ministry of Housing, Communities of Local Government
These pockets of deprivation limit people’s opportunities to succeed and transforming life chances requires addressing the social inequalities that are established right from the earliest years. This is measured using the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019, it measures the extent to which people in each neighbourhood (LSOA) in England experiences ‘multiple deprivation’ across the factors of employment, income, education, health, crime, housing and services and living environment; it is the headline measure of deprivation at a local level. This measure remains valid, although the data is now a little old as it is only refreshed every five years on average – the insights from this should be considered in conjunction with other more up to date statistics.
The unemployment rate in Tile Hill is higher than city average. A contribution to this will inevitably be the disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic and slow growth in the national economy in 2022, however rates in these areas have been consistently above average. The unemployment rate according to the 2021 Census, for residents in Tile Hill was 6.4% which equates to 273 people, higher than the Coventry average 5.9%.
In the 2021 Census, 62.4% of those aged 16-64 were in employment, compared to 64.2% across Coventry overall. The Census measures employment and unemployment rates differently to other data sources and was produced during a unique time for the labour market due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, therefore the percentages used from the census are lower than other official data and employment rate sources.
There is some difference between the north and south of Tile Hill, the employment rate is lower in the ‘Tile Hill North- Jardine Delius’ neighbourhood, at 58.1%, and higher in the ‘Tile Hill Lane South-Gravel Hill’ neighbourhood, at 67.8%.
The proportion of residents claiming unemployment benefits is higher than average in Tile Hill. Another way to measure unemployment rates is by using the claimant count, this enables us to understand more recent changes than the 2021 Census. The claimant count increased significantly in early 2020, an indication of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on employment, and while it has fallen since 2020 it remains notably higher than 2019 levels. Between August 2019 and August 2023, the proportion of the local working age population claiming unemployment benefits in Tile Hill had increased by 0.9 percentage points from 6.5% to 7.4%, equating to 315 claimants in total, significantly higher than the city average of 5.6%.
Economic inactivity rates in Tile Hill are higher (31.2%), than the city average (29.9%), particularly amongst people who are long-term sick or disabled, rates for which are amongst the highest in the city. Economic inactivity refers to people who are neither in work nor unemployed, they are not actively seeking work for various reasons. This includes full-time students, those looking after a home, people living with long term illness, retired people, and others. Across the city the main group of inactive people are full-time students, but this is not the case in Tile Hill, overall inactivity rates are higher than average here despite the area being home to a lower-than-average number of students, it is due to having particularly high rates of inactivity due to illness. Economic inactivity rates are significantly high amongst people who are ‘long-term sick or disabled’, a total of 461 people from Tile Hill counted in the 2021 Census, making up 10.8% of all working age residents (Coventry 4.9%); it is the main group of inactive people in this area and this area’s rate is amongst the highest in the city.
People who are inactive and ‘looking after home/family’, make up 7.0% of all working age people, compared to 6.0% across Coventry overall. 6.1% are inactive students (Coventry 12.8%), 5.0% are inactive ‘other’ (Coventry 4.0%) and 2.4% of working age residents in the area are retired (Coventry 2.3%).
Household income is much lower than the city average for residents in Tile Hill. The ‘UK Paycheck’ dataset from CACI estimates average gross annual household income in 2023, for Tile Hill the mean average is estimated at £31,222 compared to the Coventry average of £41,552 and the UK average of £47,621. A significantly higher proportion of households in this area are on low incomes, 43% of households are on an annual income of less than £20,000 in Tile Hill, compared to 27% across Coventry overall and 22% across the UK. When calculating household income, the incomes of all individuals living in the same household. The number of people per household is lower than average in this area, this will part of the reason why average income is relatively low.
Average household income is at its lowest in the neighbourhood, ‘Tile Hill North - Jardine Delius’ at £26,714, lower than most areas in the city. Average household income is at its highest in the neighbourhood, ‘Bannerpark East - Tile Hill Woods, Hawthorn Lane’ at £35,387, this is still lower than most areas in the city.
There is evidence that residents in Tile Hill are more likely to worry about money. The Household Survey 2022 found that 40% of residents said that they had felt worried about money often or almost all the time in the last few weeks, the same as the Coventry average of 40%.
Digital accessibility and inclusion are increasingly important. Like for Coventry overall, the availability of high-speed internet is good and an overall asset, but this does not guarantee access and many residents of the area are at risk of digital exclusion. The Ofcom Connected Nations report 2022 gives us local data, there is a high level of ‘gigabit’ availability, with 98.0% of premises in Tile Hill having service capable of 1,000 Megabits per second (Mbit/s) from fixed broadband, similar to Coventry overall at 96.9%. 100% of premises have services capable of ‘Superfast Broadband’ (30 Mbit/s or more), although the actual performance measured is lower, with 85.4% with average measured speeds of connections at 30 Mbit/s or faster.
Having overall good connection levels does not mean that residents have the capacity to access fast broadband or can afford it.
The Digital Exclusion Risk Index (DERI) tool, developed by Greater Manchester Combined Authority, models the likelihood of digital exclusion for all small neighborhoods (LSOAs) in England by creating an overall score based on number of metrics measuring the risk factors of demography, deprivation, and broadband availability. For each area they give a score between 0 and 10 where 0 represents a low risk of exclusion and 10 a high risk. This data shows a mixed picture for the area, with overall slightly higher than average risk scores compared to the Coventry average. Tile Hill neighbourhoods have scores above the average for the city, the neighbourhood ‘Tile Hill Lane South- Gravel Hill’ has a score of 3.14. The neighbourhood ‘Tile Hill North - Jardine Delius’ has a digital exclusion risk score of 3.80 and it is the highest score in this area and amongst the higher scores in the city and amongst the highest 20% of neighborhoods in England in terms of digital exclusion risk scores.
There is another measure of digital exclusion, the Internet User Classification 2018 data set from the Economic and Social Research Council, which used a number of statistics to classify each LSOA in Great Britain into 10 different types according to the internet use and engagement of its residents. The neighbourhood ‘Tile Hill North - Jardine Delius’ was classified as ‘e-Withdrawn’, the type that is least engaged with the internet. The areas of Coventry that were given this classification were typically those with higher levels of multiple deprivation. The other neighbourhoods in Tile Hill are classified as ‘Passive and Uncommitted Users’ the type with the 7th highest levels of engagement out of 10 types.
What else is happening? What else can be done?
Increasing the economic prosperity of the city is important to those living Tile Hill. The One Coventry Plan sets out the council’s ambition to ensure more residents of Coventry are fulfilling their ambitions, living healthier lives for longer and living in safer, connected, and sustainable communities.
One Coventry plan engagement found that residents in Tile Hill felt that the most important priority was increasing the economic prosperity of the city and of the region, closely followed by improving outcomes and tackling inequalities within our communities and finally tackling the causes of climate change.
Community and voluntary groups are working together in the city to ensure support is in place for those who need it. The Coventry Food Network is an example of this, established as a result from the pandemic. Coventry Food Network is a food partnership which brings together several public, private, voluntary and community sector partners to address food poverty and its causes in Coventry by taking a city-wide collaborative and strategic approach towards a unified Coventry Food Network and Strategy. Since 18 March 2020, the Council has been working closely with a range of partners, to create and deliver a system of food provision. Some of the initiatives that have evolved from this partnership are:
- Established 15 social supermarkets/grub hubs throughout the city to provide nutritional food and support to those residents in greatest need.
- Support the delivery of the Household Support Fund by providing emergency food provision to vulnerable residents who needed additional support with accessing/affording food.
- Supported the delivery and developed a model to support those who were clinically extremely vulnerable (Shielding) re: food and basic support.
- Procured food and distributed food parcels to children eligible for free school meals provision during school holidays.
- Continue to support and enhance the offer of healthy, nutritious food to children and families eligible for free school meals through the HAF programme.
Improved infrastructure and public services was highlighted as a need for the area. Some residents expressed a desire to make small but important changes to the area, maintaining and upgrading waste bins, benches, and the repair of potholes and pavements. These small but significant changes are seen as vital to the quality of life for residents. There is also a concern that while major projects receive funding, local budgets for such basic improvements remain restricted. Accessibility was also highlighted as a concern with one resident stating, “it’s hard to connect to local spaces sometimes”. Alleviating some of these barriers could improve opportunities for the community.
“Tight budgets are very evident in the city - small changes such as extra waste bins; benches in green spaces; pothole and pavement repairs etc are what matter to a lot of residents - however money is readily available for major projects - but local budgets remain restricted.”
There is a strong emphasis on supporting small businesses and creating a favourable environment for them to thrive. Residents suggest lowering rents and business rates to make it more affordable for small businesses to operate, this would also ensure a variety of shops would be available to attract different audiences. Residents also stressed the need for attracting diverse employment opportunities, particularly in sectors like manufacturing, IT, and services. At the same time, there is resistance to the expansion of low-value warehousing jobs that offer limited economic benefits.
Projects based within the city can help people gain paid employment. Coventry Job Shop which helps people overcome barriers to finding paid employment provides residents with accessing learning, training, and job opportunities.
“The arrival of new businesses offering high quality jobs in the city, improvements to the transport network, and expanding access to vital services to those most in need in the city.”
“Ensure shops are affordable to run for small businesses”
“.. if costs were lowered we might see a better variety of shops and give people an opportunity to prosper and thrive though having their own business…”