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• Ward overview
• Population
• Households
• Deprivation
• Employment and unemployment
• Contact details.

Alternatively, you can download the Northowram and Shelf Ward profile: Northowram and Shelf [PDF file 609KB]|

Ward overview

Northowram and Shelf ward is located in the north-east of Calderdale between Halifax and Bradford. Most of the built-up areas are alongside the A6036 from Claremount on the edge of Halifax to Stump Cross, Northowram, Stone Chair and Shelf. There are large areas of open countryside with scattered farmsteads and steep valleys such as Shibden Dale. The historic Shibden Hall and the adjoining Park are situated in the south-west corner of the ward.

This map is reproduced from or based upon Ordnance Survey material with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings.

© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. 100023069. (2010)

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Population

Area and population summary

Northowram and Shelf occupies an area of 1,355 hectares, or 5.2 square miles. The total population, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) mid-year estimate for 2007, is 11,303. This is made up of 48.7% males and 51.3% females. The population density is 8.3 persons per hectare, and the number of electors in the ward in December 2009 was 9,081.

Population structure

The ward has an older age profile than the district as a whole, and the older population has increased in proportion since 2001.

The table and chart below show the age-structure of the population.

Source: ONS 2007 mid-year estimates

Ethnicity

The ethnic group of the population, at the 2001 census, was 98% white, considerably higher than the district as a whole.

Source: 2001 Census

Country of birth

Of the 4% of the population born outside the UK, the largest number originate in Western Europe, followed by those born in Asia.

Source: CACI Country of Birth files

The chart below illustrates the country of birth of the 6% of the population who originate outside the UK.

Health

Life expectancy for both men and women exceeds the district figure, but has not risen as quickly as the district average over recent years.

Mortality rates (age standardised) for both under 65s and under 75s are far below both district and national figures.

Sources: Long term illness: 2001 census, all other indicators: NHS Calderdale

^*SMR (Standardised Mortality Rate) is the ratio of the observed to the expected level of mortality and takes account of the area's age profile. 100 is the national average, so numbers above 100 are worse, below 100 better, than average.

The table and chart below show the change in life expectancy for males and females in Northowram and Shelf Ward between 2001-2003 and 2006-2008,

Source: NHS Calderdale

Households

There are a total of 4,981 households in the ward, estimated from the number of occupied dwellings. The average household size is 2.3 persons.

Council Tax banding

Northowram and Shelf has considerably fewer households in Council Tax band A, and far more in band C, as well as more in the highest bands, compared with the district average.

Source: Calderdale Council Chargeable dwellings 2009 (occupied dwellings)

Household incomes

Northowram and Shelf has substantially more households with higher incomes and correspondingly fewer on lower incomes.

Source: CACI Paycheck 2009

The following three tables are all taken from 2001 census data and cannot currently be updated. They show that the main ways in which Northowram and Shelf Ward differs from Calderdale overall are:

• by district comparison, low numbers of lone parent households and one-person households and higher than average proportions of pensioner households
• very high owner occupation rates and very low rates of social housing, with privately rented housing also low
• very high car ownership rates and very low numbers of households without central heating or with over-crowding

Source: 2001 census

Source: 2001 census

Source: 2001 census

Deprivation

Rates of benefit claimant households, fuel poverty and the Pension Credit receipt are all far below district levels.

Northowram and Shelf had no areas in the worst 20% nationally on the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Sources: CMBC Safer and Stronger Communities, Benefits Service, English Housing Conditions Survey, Department of Work and Pensions.

*Percentage is of 60+ population

Employment and unemployment

Unemployment

Unemployed claimants in Northowram and Shelf rose from 89 in January 2006 to 217 in January 2010. This means a rise from only 1.3% of the working age population in 2006, to 3.1% in 2010, but by then the district figure was 5.1%. Changes since 2006 are illustrated in the table and chart below.

Source: Department of Works and Pensions

The Annual Population Survey for 2008 - 2009 showed that only 3,5% of the economically active population of 5,900 were unable to find jobs,compared with 7.6% in the district and 6.9% nationally.

Employment

The data on this page is about employment at workplaces in Northowram and Shelf Ward.

A third of those working here are employed in the Distribution and Catering sector.

There has been a small rise in employment between 2006 and 2008.

Source: Annual Business Inquiry 2008

Looking in more detail at the change from 2006 to 2008 in employment by sector, as illustrated in the chart below, none of the sectors have shown losses within the ward, three have each shown gains of 100 jobs each (Manufacturing, Construction and Utilities, and  Public Services), and the other sectors have stayed about the same.

Contact details

For further information contact the Research and Consultation Team:

• Email:
• researchandinfo@calderdale.gov.uk
• Telephone:
• 01422 393129.