I've just been reading a piece
of research that the Council has commissioned to help with policy development
and thought I'd share some of the bullet points from it.

• Lewisham
  is the 63^rd most productive local economy in Great Britain
• Lewisham
  ranks 190^th for economic growth in Great Britain (there has been
  employment growth of 6%, which is above the national and regional average,
  but slightly below that for London East).
• Against
  national averages Lewisham has a strong overall economic performance
  profile.  The borough sits in either
  the first, or high up the second, quartile for most measures of economic
  scale, productivity and growth.  

• Lewisham
  ranks 24^th for business and enterprise out of the 408 British
  local authorities
  
  

• Lewisham
  has a well educated workforce, ranking 98^th for education and
  skills out of the 408 British local authorities.

• Unemployment
  and long-term unemployment rates should be of some concern – ranking 16^th
  and 29^th highest in Britain,
  7^th and 14^th respectively in London and third on both accounts in
  London East.
• An
  exceptionally high proportion of females work full time in the borough
  (the third highest in Britain,
  London, and London East), conversely a high
  proportion of males work part time (75^th highest nationally, 7^th
  in London
  and 4^th in London East). 

• Lewisham
  has an average age of 35 years (which, coincidentally, is how old I am.)
• The
  resident population of Lewisham increased by 6% over the decade 1991 –
  2002.
• Lewisham
  is the 15^th most ethnically diverse local authority in Britain.
• The
  average household size in the borough is 2.3, below national, regional and
  sub-regional averages.  We have lots
  of one-person households (33^rd highest in Britain)
  and couples without dependent children (also 33^rd).
• Lewisham
  ranks 42^nd for its proportion of resident knowledge workers, 38^th
  for people working in professional occupations, and 17^th for
  those working in associate professional and technical occupations.
• Lewisham
  is the 139^th most prosperous local authority in Britain, but is also the 57^th
  most deprived local authority in England.
• Average
  life expectancy is 77 years (353^rd in Britain).  We have comparatively high infant
  mortality rates (34^th).

• In
  terms of crime, Lewisham is safer than London
  and London East, but is much less safe than Britain as a whole (56^th
  out of 376 English authorities). 

• Lewisham
  is the 233^rd most affordable local authority in England and Wales.
• Lewisham
  has one of the lowest proportions of people in the country travelling to
  work by car; the 9^th highest proportion travelling to work by
  public transport, but a low proportion walking or cycling.

• Lewisham
  has a high standard of local amenities, ranking 36^th of the 408
  British local authorities.  The
  standard of local services is less impressive ranking 294^th of
  English local authorities (services take account of school results,
  recycling performance, the cleanliness of highways and CPA results). 

We’re having a presentation on this document at the Mayor’s
Board on Wednesday so I’ll be interested to hear what my colleagues and the
officers have to say.  I’m slightly
surprised about the poor services in the last bullet, but accept that we don’t have
a good record on recycling as yet, and notice that the cleanliness of the
streets figure was taken from 1999-00 so that may have changed.

Nevertheless, I think it provides an interesting and useful
benchmark for the borough and will be very helpful in developing some of the
policies that will be important for the coming years.

"Many
young journalists earn £12,000 - some even less - and there are older
journalists who have finished their training getting £19,000."