This is Manchester

The Manchester that most of us know is all about friendliness, saying hello to strangers, chatting at bus stops, and living life to the full. It’s about ambition, achievement, being first, and aiming high. It’s about ensuring people have opportunities.

Manchester is an amazing city, with world-class visions, facilities, venues and technologies. We’ve had many firsts over the years in industry, technology, sports and the arts, such as the first computer. Manchester has also been a world leader in improving the quality and equality of life for its residents, including the first free public library in the 17th century, suffragettes and votes for women, fresh drinking water in the 1850s, becoming a nuclear-free city, and smokeless zones.

Also:

Manchester staged the first inclusive Commonwealth Games
we pioneered accessible hackney cabs
Manchester made the first Direct Payments, ahead of the legislation
we were, we believe, the first local authority to advertise jobs for disabled people only.

Manchester’s disabled population

In the 2011 census a total of 89,364 Manchester residents reported that they had a long-term health problem or disability which limited their daily activities (either ‘a lot’ or ‘a little’). This equated to 17.8% of Manchester’s surveyed population which was slightly higher than the 17.6% reported for England as a whole. While direct comparisons with 2001 are difficult due to a differing question style in the earlier census, Manchester and other large urban conurbations have shown a reduction in the proportion of people reporting that their daily activities were limited by such long-term health problems and disabilities.

At 9.4%, Manchester has a higher proportion of residents whose daily activities are limited ‘a lot’ when compared to the national figure of 8.3%. However, at 8.3% the proportion of Manchester’s residents whose daily activities are limited ‘a little’ is lower than the national average of 9.3%.

This suggests that interventions to assist with short-term or lower-level conditions or impairments are effective.

Yet Manchester’s percentage of people with day-to-day activities that are limited a lot is notably higher than the national average, suggesting that the proportion of people with high level/assessed needs is greater in the city than nationally.

Percentage of people whose daily activities are ‘limited a lot’, ‘limited a little’ or ‘not limited’ by a long term health problem or disability.

Day-to-day activities limited a lot:

Manchester: 9.4% - 47,353 people
England: 8.3% - 4,405,394 people

Day-to-day activities limited a little:

Manchester: 8.3% - 42,011 people
England: 9.3% - 4,947,192 people

Day-to-day activities not limited:

Manchester: 82.2% - 413,763 people
England: 82.4% - 43,659,870 people

(Source: Census 2011, ONS, Crown Copyright)

Public Service Reform

Welfare reforms that have already been implemented are impacting on disabled residents through the reassessment of Incapacity Benefit through Work Capability Assessments (WCA) and the under occupancy rules.

Employment and skills

There are 19,415 economically active people in Manchester who identify as disabled or who have a long-term health condition that limits their daily activities, and this represents approximately 5% of the city’s working age population.

At 6.6% the proportion of economically inactive working-age Manchester residents who identify as long-term sick or disabled is higher than the national average of 4%.

Percentage of economically inactive working-age residents who are long-term sick/disabled

All usual residents aged 16 to 74 who are long-term economically inactive:

Manchester: 382,932
England:38,881,374

Economically inactive residents who are long-term sick/disabled:

Manchester: 6.6%
England: 4%

Although this is far from always the case, statistics also show that, in Manchester, disabled children and adults are more likely to live in poverty, have fewer educational qualifications, be out of work, be a victim of crime, have difficulty accessing transport and buildings, and experience a poorer quality of life than their non-disabled peers.

Increasing employment and skills

Opportunities for some groups indicate the potential for future growth, but this is not a consistent trend and there are groups of disabled people in Manchester that experience far fewer chances of gaining skills, experience and employment. The current economic climate has made it more difficult for all people to get work, meaning that the already present difficulties faced by disabled people to secure paid employment are compounded.

Children and young people

Nationally, it is estimated that:

children and young people with special educational needs have higher rates of absence from school and exclusion from school. This is also the case in Manchester, where for example in 2014/15 Manchester pupils missed 4.7% of school sessions; however, for pupils with statements or EHC plans the absence rate was 10.5%.
in Manchester, although in recent years there has been a slight increase in the number of young people with special educational needs achieving five GCSE grades A to C, the gap between results for young people with SEN and their peers has increased. 53% of disabled children and adults and those with long-term conditions have either no qualifications or qualifications below GCSE grades A to C
40% of disabled children and adults aged 16 to 34 have reported being a victim of crime, compared to 30% for non-disabled children and adults.
all mortality rates for people with moderate and severe learning disabilities are three times higher than for the general population.

The national employment rate for disabled adults is 45%, equating to a 30% gap between the employment rate for disabled and non-disabled adults. In June 2015, 12% of 16 to 18-year-olds with special educational needs and disabilities were not engaged in education, employment or training, compared to 5.8% of all 16 to 18-year-olds.

In January 2016 the school census showed that Manchester’s total school population was 80,634; 12,196 of these pupils had a special educational need, and the majority had their needs met at SEN support level. This equates to 15.1% of Manchester’s total school pupil population with a special educational need.

Most children and young people with a special educational need have a moderate learning difficulty. However, autistic spectrum disorder is the most common difficulty for children and young people with a Statement or EHC plan in Manchester (28%) and is higher than the national figure of 24.5% (January 2015 census figures).

Half the school-age population with high levels of special educational need reflected by an Education, Health and Care plan attend a mainstream school and half attend a special school. Overall, this means that 1.6% of the school-age population attend special schools. This has been the case for the past five years.

More information about the health needs in the city can be found in the joint strategic needs assessments.

Next: Personally speaking

Social services Part two: background