Coventry

Introduction

Coventry is a city of around 305,000 residents and is ethnically diverse with some 22% of Coventry’s inhabitants coming from minority ethnic communities. The city council have developed an area based approach and are seeking to devolve significant service provision to their Neighbourhood Management Groups. There are 3 for the City -North East, North West and South formed in October 2005.

Coventry’s economy is undergoing rapid change. The decline of traditional manufacturing in the city and the loss of some of its most famous companies (eg; Peugeot) have been successfully balanced with population growth, new investment and new types of jobs.

Recent Visits

Kevin Brennan (DCMS) visited Coventry's Youth Sports Trust on 23 August 2007

Demographics for Coventry

Mid-2006 Population Estimates

Figures updated annually. Last update August 2007. Source: Office for National Statistics.

Children and Learners

• £3.1m has been allocated to Coventry for the development of extended schools between 2005-08.
• Nearly £70m has been spent on school renovation projects between 1998/99 and 2002/03 with a further £9.2m for 2003/04. This includes £3.8m at Henley Green School and Community College combining school and community care, nearly £670,000 on refurbishing science labs at Cardinal Newman RC Secondary and almost £670,000 on refurbishing design and technology accommodation at Woodway Park Secondary School.

Health and Well Being

• Coventry PCT is part of The Spearhead Group of Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts who will be used to assess the achievement of the government targets to address geographical inequalities in life expectancy, cancer, heart disease, stroke and related diseases in 2010.
• Walsgrave and Coventry & Warwickshire hospitals have both received cutting edge equipment to better diagnose and treat cancer.

Crime

• Coventry has been named as one of 40 priority Respect Action Areas in England, for being a Council who has a strong record in tackling anti-social behaviour. Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is also backing the scheme with £6m of funding in 2007/08 for parenting classes in the 40 areas.
• Nearly £500,000 was awarded in 2006/07 to the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) from the Stronger Safer Communities Fund, as part of the Local Area Agreement pilot to tackle crime, drug issues and anti-social behaviour.
• Over £400,000 was allocated from the Basic Command Unit Fund 2006/07, providing resources to front line officers who tackle crime and disorder in the community and addressing crimes that undermine communities feelings of safety.
• Over £24,000 has been awarded to Coventry to fund “Cabcams”.  50 CCTV cameras have now been installed in local taxis to help reduce anti-social behaviour and violent crime. There have so far been 2 successful prosecutions as a result of the images captured on the cameras.
• The City has recently been selected as a specialist domestic violence court area. This will bring together a range of different agencies to track and risk assess domestic violence cases, better share information so that more offenders are brought to justice and ensure victims are protected and better supported.
• £55,000 has been secured from the Home Office Tackling Violent Crime Fund for 2006/07 to place additional interventions, to curb violence associated with the night-time economy in Coventry.

Transport

• Almost £68m has been allocated to the West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities (of which £5.4m was for Coventry) for smaller transport measures under £5m and road maintenance, under the West Midlands Local Transport Plan settlement for 2007/08
• Over £74m has been allocated for the upgrade of the A45/A46 Tollbar End roundabout to provide a grade separated interchange. This is proposed for 2011.
• The £31m LTP funded Coventry Quality Bus Network scheme which will substantially improve bus service provision in 4 key corridors and will enhance access to some of the most disadvantaged communities. Full approval was given in December 2004 and is due to be completed in 2008.

Regeneration
• Nearly  £10.6m has been provided from April 2006 to March 2008 through the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to help fight crime and tackle the deep-rooted problems of the most disadvantaged communities, including the employment of a missing persons officer to work with persistent truants.
• Nearly £12.6m of Local Enterprise Grant Initiative funds has been provided from 2006-09 to support locally developed and owned strategies, that try out new or proven ways of stimulating economic activity and productivity growth through enterprise development.

European Funding

• £4.4m has been allocated to help build a multi-purpose sports, exhibition and entertainment arena on the site of the former Foleshill Gasworks. Completed in August 2005 the arena is home to Coventry City FC and has acted as a catalyst for the regeneration of the north of the city.
• Almost £1.65m has been awarded to the West Midlands Collaborative Commerce Marketplace Project. Due to the success of the project, a proposal for £1.5m European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grant is under consideration.
• £1.8m was allocated to Electric Wharf to bring 7,500 sq m of redundant Victorian power station buildings back into use and bringing about a major improvement to the canal side, providing business space for small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in new technology and cultural industries.