Vale Facts and Figures
This page offers a concise profile of the Vale of Glamorgan,
including information about the area's population, economy,
employment, housing, education and leisure facilities.
For more detailed information read the Community
Profile Report 2006 (PDF 7MB)
Introduction
The Vale of Glamorgan is Wales' most southern Unitary Authority.
It lies immediately west of Cardiff between the M4 and the Severn
Estuary. It covers 33097 hectares (331 square miles) with 53
kilometres of coastline, of which 19 kilometres is Heritage
Coast.
The main settlements are Barry, Penarth, Llantwit Major, Dinas
Powys and Cowbridge. Barry, the largest town with a population of
48,000, is the Vale's administrative centre, a seaside resort and
port. Cardiff International Airport is located at Rhoose, 3 miles
west of Barry.
Population
The population of the Vale was recorded as 119,292 in the 2001
Census, having grown steadily for many years. The population is
expected to level out over the next 10 years, though the number of
households will continue to increase as average household size
falls.
|
Year |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
2001 |
*mid-2006 |
| Population |
106300 |
112120 |
116980 |
119292 |
123,300 |
| Household size |
3.06 |
2.72 |
2.57 |
2.41 |
- |
| Households |
34700 |
41150 |
45460 |
48753 |
- |
* Figures supplied by the Office for National
Statistics
Children
The numbers of children in the Vale is expected to decrease over
the next ten years:
|
Year |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
2001 |
2011 |
| Children aged 0 to 4 |
8833 |
7451 |
8165 |
7086 |
7045 |
| Children aged 5 to 15 |
19629 |
19945 |
17165 |
16607 |
15744 |
| Total |
28462 |
27396 |
25330 |
23693 |
22789 |
Older People
The numbers of older people on the other hand is expected to
increase over the next ten years:
|
Year |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
2001 |
2011 |
| Pensioners (to 74) |
11559 |
12838 |
14304 |
13396 |
16959 |
| Pensioners (75+) |
4907 |
6075 |
7986 |
9786 |
10597 |
| Total |
16466 |
18913 |
22290 |
23182 |
27556 |
Other information
Welsh Language
The number of Welsh speakers in the Vale has been growing. In
1981 6.5% of the population aged 3+ could speak Welsh, increasing
to 6.9% by 1991 and 8.8% in 2001. This is still low relative to the
Welsh average of 16%.
Deprivation
The Index of Multiple Deprivation for Wales (2000) showed the
most deprived wards in the Vale of Glamorgan to be Castleland and
Gibbonsdown in Barry. These were in the top fifth of Welsh wards in
the index of multiple deprivation. A further three Barry wards
Buttrills, Court and Cadoc were in the second fifth.
Ethnic Minorities
In 2001 Census showed that there is a small ethnic minority
population in the Vale of about 1.8% of the population, rising from
1.3% in 1991.
Housing
There are 53,579 domestic dwellings registered for Council tax
in the Vale. The great majority of households (77.7%) are owner
occupiers; 4,320 households (8.9% of the total) rent from the
Council, 1,991 (4.1%) rent from a housing association or registered
social landlord and 4,511 (9.2%) rent privately.
The Local Economy
The on-line Business Directory for the Vale of Glamorgan lists
details of over 2000 current business enterprises. In 2002 there
were 2,790 companies in the Vale registered for VAT. The Vale's
economy forms part of the wider Industrial South Wales (ISW)
economic and travel to work area. Some 30% of the Vale's exports go
to ISW. There are some 47,000 employed residents with 20,640
commuters leaving the Vale and 10,060 commuters coming into the
Vale each day. Major employers include the Council, British
Airways, DARA, the NHS (mainly at Llandough Hospital), Bosch, Zeon,
Tesco and Dow Corning.
Employment
The Economic Activity rate (percentage of people working or
available for work) was 79.3% in the Vale in 2001 compared to 73.7%
for Wales. Unemployment in the Vale has declined steadily in recent
years. In March 2004 it was 2.3% (2.6% for Wales as a whole.
Occupations
The 2001 Census showed the Vale to have a marked bias towards
professional managerial and administrative occupations. For
example, managerial jobs, at 15% of the total, was the second
highest level in Wales, as was the case with Administrative and
Secretarial occupations (14%). Professional occupations (4%) was
fourth highest and Associate Professional and Technical was the
highest in Wales at 16%. In contrast, the proportion of those
working in Skilled Trades, Plant and Machine Operation and
Elementary occupations (farming, quarrying etc) were amongst the
lowest in Wales.
Parks, County Parks & Commons
The Council provides and manages:
- 7 formal parks (total area 21.5 hectares);
- 3 public gardens (total area 1.93 hectares);
- 22 recreation grounds (total area 90.04 hectares) with 47
football, 11 mini football, 9 rugby, 2 mini rugby, 2 hockey and 8
cricket pitches;
- 106 play areas;
- 7 bowling greens and 30 tennis courts;
- 11 allotment sites (total area 12.8 hectares)
- Cosmeston Lakes Country park (90 hectares), incorporating a
Visitor Centre and a re-constructed Medieval Village;
- Porthkerry Country Park (91 hectares);
- Stallingdown Common (26 hectares);
- St Hillary Common; Llanblethian Woods (5 hectares);
- Ogmore Commons (421 hectares).
Sports / Leisure
The Council offers six multi functional leisure facilities at
Penarth, Barry, Cowbridge, Llantwit Major, Colcot and Holm
View.
Libraries
The Council operates:
5 full-time libraries (Barry, Penarth, Cowbridge, Dinas Powys,
Llantwit Major);
4 part-time libraries (Rhoose, St Athan, Wenvoe, and Sully);
2 mobile libraries with 94 stopping places.
Museums & Galleries
Local facilities include the Turner House Gallery and Oriel
Washington Gallery at Penarth, Cowbridge Town Hall Museum and
Cosmeston Medieval Village. There are castles at Fonmon, St Donats,
Barry and Ogmore.
Hotels & Restaurants
There are details of 28 hotels and 42 restaurants in the Vale of
Glamorgan Business Directory.
Shops
The Vale contains five town centre shopping areas two at Barry
(with 17,000 sq m retail floorspace in Holton Road and 10,340 sq m
at High Street / Broad Street), Penarth (12,534 sq m), Llantwit
Major (6,739 sq m) and Cowbridge (10,996). There is an out of town
retail area at Culverhouse Cross (with 24,364 sq m). There are also
Farmers Markets at Barry, Cowbridge and Llantwit Major and a
general weekly market in Barry.
Entertainment
There are 4 cinemas / theatres in the Vale of Glamorgan: the
Memorial Hall and Theatre Royal in Barry, the Paget Rooms in
Penarth and the St. Donats Arts Centre in Llantwit Major. There is
a Pleasure Park at Barry Island.
Tourism
Important tourist attractions include Dyffryn Gardens, the Barry
Island Railway Heritage Centre, the Welsh Hawking Centre, Warren
Mill farm park and coarse fishery, Llanerch Vineyard and the
Flatholm Project.
The Waverley and Balmoral pleasure cruisers sail from Barry and
Penarth during the summer. There is also the Amelia Methodist Trust
near Bonvilston with a charitable working farm, pottery and
workshops.
Transport Links
The Vale of Glamorgan is well connected, with an international
airport, a sea port, two commuter rail lines and part of the M4
motorway in its area. Also, the Council is making good progress in
its bid to reconnect Barry to Bridgend with passenger rail
services.
Schools
The Council maintains 3 nursery, 3 infant, 3 junior, 41 primary
and 8 secondary schools. Thirty three nursery units are attached to
infant / primary schools and there are 3 special schools and 1
pupil referral unit. Eight primary and five secondary schools have
resources to meet the needs of children with special educational
needs. There is a new Welsh secondary school in Barry and a private
secondary school and one private school catering for Special Needs
Educational Needs in Penarth. Some use is made of schools outside
the County for a limited number of children who have special needs
or require Welsh medium teaching.
School examination results
The achievements of pupils in the Vale of Glamorgan exceed the
Welsh average. The average GCSE/GNVQ points score of pupils in
2002/03 in the Vale of Glamorgan was 43 compared with 36 for all
Wales. Similarly the average score of pupils entered for 2 or more
A/AS levels or Advance GNVQ was 20 compared with the Welsh average
of 19.
Further Education
There is one further education establishment in the Vale of
Glamorgan at Barry College, although its services are provided
through outlets located throughout the Vale. The College has 1,150
full-time, 2,287 part-time (day) and 1,245 evening students. There
are no higher education establishments in the area; the nearest are
at Cardiff, Pontypridd and Swansea.
Health
The Vale of Glamorgan has, in comparison with other areas of
Wales, a very healthy population. The area's Health Status in Wales
for physical health shows it to be equal best with Cardiff and for
mental health it is third behind Anglesey and Pembrokeshire. The
Vale of Glamorgan has 5.6 GPs for every 10,000 people compared with
the Welsh average of 6.3. It has 60.4 hospital beds per 10,000
people compared with the Welsh average of 40.3.
Residential Care Homes
There are 3 local authority run homes for the elderly with 87
places and 30 privately run homes with 663 places in the Vale of
Glamorgan. There are also 596 places for the elderly per week
available at day care centres.
Sources
Census of Population 1971, 1981, 1981 and 2001.
Vale of Glamorgan Council Unitary Development Plan 1996 2011
Welsh Office, Digest of Welsh Local Area Statistics 2003
National Statistics, Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, 2000
Edition
Vale of Glamorgan Council, Housing Strategy & Operational
Plan
Vale of Glamorgan Council, Business Directory
Vale of Glamorgan Council, Best Value Performance Plan
Vale of Glamorgan Council, Retail Floorspace Report 2003
Social Trends No.32
NOMIS 2002/3
Contact
Email: press@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk
National Statistics Online is the UK's home of official
statistics, provided by the Government.
The site reveals statistical information about Britain's
economy, population and society at national and local level. You
can use the links below to view a selection of interesting and
frequently requested indicators from the 2001 Census specifically
for the Vale of Glamorgan, based on data released on or before 13
February 2003.
Vale of
Glamorgan statistics: These include Population; People, Places
& Families; Welsh; Ethnicity & Religion; Health; Work; and
Housing.
More detail is available for local areas in the
Neighbourhood Statistics area of the website.