Star date: 6th May 2010 

THE SHOCKING STATE OF SALFORD 2010

Affordable Housing – SHOCK!
Health – SHOCK!
Wealth – SHOCK!
Kids – SHOCK!

No matter how the politicians spin it, Salford is still one of the most deprived cities in the country by virtually any indicator. Here we look at objective figures for health, poverty, unemployment, mortality rate…it goes on and on and on. It's not pretty reading, even after all the regeneration money has been pumped in.

Today's election might whip the politicians but think about the unelected bodies which administrate the hundreds of millions of pounds put into the city – the NDC, the NWDA, the URC, the HMR and all the other agencies and `partnerships' that no-one knows what the hell they are. These organisations, staffed and stuffed with people on fat salaries, never have to face a public vote of confidence.

Make no mistake about it, these graphs show the people of Salford being totally let down, no matter which political party is in power.

See the full gory story here…

These graphs, from the Association of Public Health Observatories, show the true and latest picture of Salford in bright bold red, which stands for `Significantly worse than the average'. The top graph shows Salford in comparison to the North West region and the bottom graph shows Salford in comparison to the rest of England.

Compared to the rest of England, Salford is only better than average in `road deaths and injuries'. For five indicators it's about the same and for a massive 24 indicators it's significantly worse…

Significantly Worse – Violent Crime, Children in Poverty, Drug Misuse, GCSE achievement, homelessness, Physically Active Children, Deprivation, Adults who Smoke, Teenage Pregnancy, Obese Adults, Diabetes, Early Deaths – Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke, Healthy Eating Adults, Incapacity Benefits Mental Illness, Over 65s `Not In Good Health', Life Expectancy – Male and Female, Deaths from Smoking, Children's Tooth Decay, Hospital Stays for Alcohol Related Harm, Binge Drinking Adults, Breast Feeding Initiation, Smoking In Pregnancy.

The government's `oneplace' website shows more horrific graphs - `all age mortality rate' in the worst 5% of the country and `deteriorating'…`satisfaction with local area' – in the worst ten per cent in the country…Even the rates that are improving are still usually below average or average for the country.

The statistics are shocking – and a recent report by Kevin Brady, Assistant Chief Executive at Salford City Council, argues that it's not going to get any better. He states that `due to the recession' targets to reduce (out of work) child poverty and worklessness in the city's worst performing neighbourhoods are "unachievable". He adds…

"Favourable trends in the rates of out of work benefit claimants and child poverty have deteriorated considerably. Furthermore, the effects of recession have been greater in Salford than in other comparative areas in the region, with greatest impact amongst those customer groups and within those neighbourhoods that have traditionally been most vulnerable."

AFFORDABLE HOMES?

Brady recommends that targets be scaled down for affordable homes – from a mere 300 next year to an even worse 200 affordable homes for the whole city.

Meanwhile, figures obtained by Salford Star under the Freedom of Information Act show that the number of people with household incomes of £20,000 or less (the so-called `poor') who have benefitted from all the various Home Buy schemes in Salford up until last year stands at a shocking 10 families. These schemes are supposed to make the new houses in Salford affordable to all – up to 2009 only 10 families on the average Central Salford joint income benefitted…

So who is benefitting from all the millions that are being pumped into Salford? On health, wealth, housing and loads more – it ain't the average Salford people.

See ONE SHOCKING CITY  here...

See DEPRESSION CITY here