COASTAL COMMUNITIES IN EASTERN ENGLAND
A commentary on the statistics
Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill
Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research
Sheffield Hallam University
July 2010
Scope of the data
The figures presented in the accompanying tables cover 27 coastal
communities in the East of England. The list of places includes all significant
coastal settlements in the region with a resident population of more than
1,5001. This lower threshold is set by the size of Lower Super Output Areas
(LSOAs), the smallest geographical units for which a range of socio-economic
data is presently available.
12 of the coastal communities in Eastern England were previously included in
‘benchmarking’ studies commissioned by central government covering
England’s principal seaside towns2 and smaller seaside towns3. A further 6 of
the communities were included in a recent study of seaside tourism by the
same Sheffield Hallam team4. The remaining 9 coastal communities were
identified by GO-East for the purpose of the present study. They include a
number of residential settlements along or near to the coast that did not fall
within the scope of the earlier studies, which focussed primarily on ‘resorts’.
The detailed definition of each of the communities, in terms of LSOAs, is set
out at the end of the tables. The definitions are those developed by the
Sheffield Hallam team for the earlier studies5 or proposed by GO-East6.
1
Southwold has a resident population below this threshold, at 1,200, covered by a single
LSOA.
2 C Beatty, S Fothergill and I Wilson (2008) England’s Seaside Towns: a ‘benchmarking’
study, CLG, London. This covers Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Clacton and Southend.
3 C Beatty, S Fothergill and I Wilson (2010 forthcoming) England’s Smaller Seaside Towns: a
‘benchmarking’ study, CLG, London. This covers Hunstanton, Wells, Sheringham, Cromer,
Mundesley, Southwold, Aldeburgh, and West Mersea.
4 C Beatty, S Fothergill, T Gore and I Wilson (2010) The Seaside Tourist Industry in England
and Wales: employment, economic output, location and trends, CRESR, Sheffield Hallam
University. This also includes Hemsby, Hopton, Kessingland, Felixstowe, Harwich and
Frinton/Walton.
5 The exception is Clacton. Jaywick is defined as a separate community in the present study,
rather than included within the boundaries of Clacton.
6 As modified for consistency by the Sheffield Hallam team in a small number of cases.
1
The statistics presented in the tables for the 27 communities replicate those in
the two benchmarking studies. Where possible the figures have all been updated to reflect the most recent data. This means that for the larger towns the
relevant figures are two years more up-to-date, and for the smaller towns one
year.
The more recent figures in the present tables and the use of a wider definition
of ‘coastal communities’ means that much of the data presented here is not
precisely comparable with the information in the earlier benchmarking studies.
However, the consistency in the definition of places means that, with caution,
comparisons between the figures presented here and the previously
published figures for seaside towns elsewhere in England are both possible
and reasonable.
Where possible, the tables provide figures not only for individual communities
but also the averages or totals for:





The region’s larger coastal communities (more than 10,000 pop)
The region’s smaller coastal communities (less than 10,000 pop)
The region’s coastal communities as a whole
East of England
England
The distinction between larger and smaller communities is helpful because
the larger towns tend to swamp the regional averages. Southend-on-Sea for
example, with164,000 residents, has a population more than twice as large as
the combined population of the 18 smallest coastal communities in the region.
This point needs to be kept in mind in interpreting the averages for the
region’s coastal communities.
Commentary on the tables
Population

Eastern England’s 27 coastal communities include almost exactly onetenth of the region’s resident population.

Approaching 30 per cent of the resident population of the 27 coastal
communities is in Southend-on-Sea.

The three largest coastal communities – Southend, Lowestoft and
Great Yarmouth – account for half the total resident population.

The 18 smallest coastal communities, each with a resident population
of less than 10,000, account for just under 15 per cent of the total.
2

Eastern England’s coastal communities population of 570,000
compares with a total population in England’s larger and smaller
seaside towns (as defined in the earlier benchmarking studies) of 3.1m,
and around 3.5m including all the places in England covered in the
seaside tourism study.
Population growth

Between 2001 and 2008 the resident population of the East of
England’s coastal communities grew by on average around half a per
cent a year.

This growth is in line with the England average, but slightly slower than
the average for the Eastern region.

The population growth has, on average, taken place at much the same
rate in larger and smaller coastal communities.

There has however been some diversity of experience between
individual places. The apparently large percentage decline in
Southwold is unusual but represents small absolute numbers and could
reflect the impact of second homes.

The North Norfolk coast, from near King’s Lynn to just north of Great
Yarmouth, appears to be an area of slow if not stagnant population
growth, in contrast to the faster growth along the Essex coast.

The average population growth in the East of England’s coastal
communities is marginally faster than the average for the English
seaside towns covered in the benchmarking studies.
Age structure of the population

The region’s coastal communities have a markedly old population.
This is particularly the case in the smaller communities.

In some places, notably Southwold, Aldeburgh, Frinton/Walton,
Heacham and Hunstanton, the share of the population over state
pension age – at over 40 per cent – is extreme.

The share of the population over state pension age is above the
England average in every one of the 27 coastal communities, and
above the East of England average in all but King’s Lynn.

The high proportion of residents above state pension age is not
unusual. A similar population structure has previously been identified
in England’s other seaside towns, especially smaller resorts.
3
Employment

Including the self-employed, some 230,000 people are estimated to
work in the East of England’s coastal communities.

This represents around 8.5 per cent of the total number of jobs in the
region – rather less than coastal communities’ 10 per cent share of the
region’s population. The difference will reflect the high proportion of
retirees along the coast but may also reflect net commuting flows to
inland locations, for example from Southend to London.
Employment growth

Over the period from 2003-04 to 2007-08, mostly pre-dating the
recession (more recent data is not yet available), overall employment in
Eastern England’s coastal communities was largely unchanged, in
contrast to the growth in the region and England as a whole.

There does however appear to be considerable diversity in trends
between individual places – though these very local figures must be
treated with caution in view of the sampling error in ABI employment
data.

The weak employment growth along the East of England coast is
consistent with the observation in the recent Seaside Tourism report7
that Eastern England is the one region where there appears to have
been a small net decline in seaside tourism employment over the last
decade.
Employment by sector
7

30 per cent of the jobs in Eastern England’s coastal communities are in
public administration, education and health. This is higher than the
regional and national averages, and in part will reflect the communities’
important role as residential settlements for retirees and commuters.

Distribution (inc. shops), hotels and restaurant is the next biggest
sector, at 28 per cent of the total, and 38 per cent on average in the
smaller coastal communities. This is the sector that includes many
tourism jobs and its share of total employment is a useful guide to the
extent to which different coastal communities depend on seaside
tourism.

The high proportion of jobs in the region’s smaller coastal communities
in distribution, hotels and restaurants is a feature shared by other
smaller seaside towns around the coast of England.
C Beatty, S Fothergill, T Gore and I Wilson (2010) op cit.
4
Employment rate

The employment rate – the share of adults of working age in
employment – is well below the regional and national average.

There is however considerable variation between individual coastal
communities. An estimated employment rate of 48 per cent in Jaywick
is extremely low by any standards, whereas Southwold at 79 per cent
is relatively high.

The low employment rates in Great Yarmouth (65 per cent) and
Clacton (also 65 per cent) are worth noting since these are two of the
more substantial coastal settlements in the region.
Occupational structure

The occupational structure of the region’s coastal communities is on
average skewed towards lower-grade jobs, compared to either regional
or England averages.

The low-grade occupational structure is particularly marked in a
number of the larger towns including King’s Lynn, Great Yarmouth,
Lowestoft, Harwich and Clacton (but not Southend).

The region’s smaller coastal communities often have a higher share of
managers and professionals, perhaps reflecting a role as desirable
places to live, but there are exceptions where the proportion is low,
notably Jaywick and Canvey Island.
Qualifications

On average, the region’s coastal communities have a relatively poorly
qualified working age population, with a proportion with no formal
qualifications that is above the regional and England averages.

This observation applies on average to small as well as large coastal
communities, though there are exceptions.

Jaywick stands out as having an exceptionally high proportion of
working age residents with no formal qualifications. Southwold is at the
other end of the spectrum.
5
Educational achievement

Educational achievement, measured by the proportion of pupils gaining
5 or more A-Cs at GCSE, is well below the regional and national
averages.

There is however considerable variation between individual coastal
communities – the range is from 43 per cent in Jaywick and 44 per cent
in Hunstanton to 86 per cent in Hopton.
Benefit claimant rates

The overall working age benefit claimant rate is well above the regional
and England averages. This is particularly the case in larger coastal
communities. The figures here are all for November 2009, which is the
most recent date for which figures on all the three main working age
benefits are available.

The average working age claimant rate in Eastern England’s coastal
communities is nevertheless lower, by some margin, than in many
parts of Britain: in the worst 100 GB districts outside London the
working age claimant rate averages more than 18 per cent.

Several of the region’s coastal communities, notably Great Yarmouth
(23 per cent), Clacton (20 per cent) and Jaywick (36 per cent) do
however have very high claimant rates.

The numbers out-of-work on benefits are dominated by incapacity
claimants (IB/SDA/ESA) rather than by the claimant unemployed on
Jobseeker’s Allowance. This is not unusual for coastal communities or
the UK as a whole.
Trends in benefit numbers

In the ten years to November 2009 the average working age benefit
claimant rate in the region’s coastal communities rose by around one
percentage point – but this hides a fall up to the recession in 2008 and
an increase thereafter.

There is modest variation in the increase between places. Jaywick
stands out as having experienced an unusually large increase (6
percentage points).

Overall working age benefit numbers have increased a little more
slowly than in the region as a whole, especially in the smaller coastal
communities.
6

Incapacity benefit claims have increased in the region’s coastal
communities, a trend mirrored in other seaside towns around the coast
of England.
Pensioner poverty

The share of pensioners in receipt of Pension Credits (a measure of
pensioners on low income) is higher than the regional average but not
greatly out of line with the England average.

A number of mainly smaller coastal communities (for example
Southwold, Aldeburgh and West Mersea) have relatively low
proportions claiming Pension Credits.
Housing benefits

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are on average more widely
claimed in the region’s larger coastal communities than in the smaller
settlements (though Jaywick is an important exception).

Overall, the claimant rate for these two housing-related benefits is
ahead of the regional and England averages.
Seasonal unemployment

Seasonal fluctuations in claimant unemployment are surprisingly
modest – an average of just 0.5 percentage points – considering the
importance of seaside tourism to some of the local economies.

This seasonal fluctuation in claimant unemployment is in line with
trends elsewhere around much of the English coast, but greater than
the averages for the region and England as a whole, which show
negligible seasonable fluctuations.

There is a stretch of the Norfolk coast from Mundesley to Great
Yarmouth where seasonal unemployment is more significant.
Impact of recession on claimant unemployment

The comparison between claimant unemployment rates in January
2008 and January 2010, which avoids any distortion arising from
seasonal unemployment, shows that on average the region’s coastal
communities have been marginally more badly affected by the
recession than Eastern England or England as a whole.
7

The impact of the recession on claimant unemployment has tended to
be greater in the larger coastal communities than in the smaller places.
Earnings

Average earnings of residents in the districts containing the region’s
coastal communities tend to be some way below the average for the
Eastern region of for England as a whole.

The notable exception concerns the southern part of the Essex coast,
where presumably long-distance commuting into London begins to
influence the figures.

Low earnings are a characteristic of seaside towns elsewhere in
Britain, noted in the earlier benchmarking studies.
Business stock

On average the stock of VAT registered businesses, in relation to
population, is a little below national and regional levels in the districts
where the region’s coastal communities are located.

The rate of business formation, measured by new VAT registrations, is
also below national and regional averages.

There is however variation around the coast with parts of Essex, for
example, having a high business stock and a high rate of business
formation.
Migrant workers

The in-flow of migrant workers, measured by new National Insurance
registrations by non-UK nationals, has been fairly high in the King’s
Lynn area and in Great Yarmouth but lower elsewhere around the
region’s coast.
Economic output

Gross Value Added (GVA) per head is consistently below the England
and regional average in the sub-regions in which Eastern England’s
coastal communities are found. This will reflect the composition of
local employment as well as a range of other factors.
8

Across England as a whole, GVA per head tends to be below the
national average in just about all the areas that include seaside towns,
so Eastern England is not unusual.
Housing tenure

Compared to England and regional average, coastal communities in
Eastern England tend to have a slightly above average share of owner
occupiers, an above average share in private rented accommodation
and a below average share in social rented housing.

This is a pattern of housing tenure that is replicated in seaside towns
elsewhere in Britain.

There is important variation in housing tenure between individual
coastal communities in the region.
Overcrowded households

The proportion of households living in overcrowded conditions is on
average not high, nor a great deal different from the regional average,
but there are again important variations between individual coastal
communities.
Basic amenities

The proportion of housing lacking basic amenities tends in practice to
mostly reflect the absence of central heating. Overall, the region’s
coastal communities are in line with the England average, but lack
basic amenities to a rather greater extent than the regional average.

There are again large variations between individual places – the figures
for Great Yarmouth and for Jaywick are particularly high.
Deprivation
The figures presented here show the average ranking on the 2007 Indices of
Deprivation of the LSOAs that make up each coastal community. A low score
indicates a high level of deprivation; a high score indicates a low level.
There are 32,482 LSOAs across England as a whole, so an average ranking
below 16,242 indicates that a settlement has an above average level of
deprivation. Because of the averaging process across deprived and more
prosperous LSOAs within a town, very high or very low average rankings are
on the whole unlikely. An average ranking of, say, 8,000 may in fact mean
that a town is among the most deprived in England.
9
The 2007 Indices of Deprivation include a number of ‘domains’ as well as an
overall ranking. Figures for each of these domains are presented as well as
statistics on overall deprivation.

In terms of overall deprivation, the East of England’s coastal
communities appear slightly more deprived than England as a whole:
15 of the 27 communities have an average ranking below 16,242
placing them as worse than average.

The worst 10 coastal communities in the region in terms of overall
deprivation are, ranked in order of deprivation:
Jaywick
Great Yarmouth
Clacton
Lowestoft
Cromer
Hunstanton
Harwich
Kessingland
Winterton on Sea
King’s Lynn

The least deprived 10 coastal communities, on the same indicator,
ranked from the least deprived, are:
Aldeburgh
Tollesbury
West Mersea
Burnham on Crouch
Felixstowe
Southwold
Brightlingsea
Sheringham
Hopton
Frinton/Walton

Broadly speaking, the dimensions of deprivation that are most marked
in the region’s coastal communities concern income, employment and
education/skills.

The Indices of Deprivation suggest that in most of the region’s coastal
communities there is little problem associated with barriers to housing
and services, crime or living environment.
10
Assessment
How do coastal communities compare with the rest of the region?
The data shows Eastern England’s coastal communities to be, on average, an
economically weak part of the region. This is reflected in a range of statistics
such as benefit claimant rates, the employment rate, and a below average
level of skills, as well as in more narrowly economic data such as average
earnings and GVA per head in the local economy. On the other hand, this
economic weakness is only rarely acute and it needs to be kept in mind that
the East of England, taken as a whole, is one of the UK’s more prosperous
regions.
The differences between coastal communities and the rest of the region are
however ones of function as much as prosperity. The region’s coastal
communities emerge as favoured places for retirees, especially the smaller
towns. Several are also self-evidently seaside resorts, which is reflected in
the high proportion of jobs in distribution, hotels and restaurants and
associated seasonal unemployment and low wages.
How do they compare with seaside towns elsewhere around the coast?
The socio-economic profile of Eastern England’s coastal communities is
actually on the whole little different from that of seaside towns in other English
regions, as documented in the earlier benchmarking studies. It would appear
that there are certain features that most coastal communities share, which is
perhaps hardly surprising given the long history and continuing role of many
of them as resorts and tourist destinations.
These common features include a concentration of employment in a narrow
range of sectors, the persistence of worklessness on benefit, most especially
incapacity benefits, and a nexus of low wages and low skills, as well as a
characteristic seaside pattern of housing tenure.
What about the differences between places?
Whilst on average there are common patterns and features, it is nevertheless
important to recognise the limits of generalisation. What all the coastal
communities in Eastern England share is an exposure to the sea, and in most
cases an important element of tourism in the local economy. But what is also
clear is that the averages hide a great deal of diversity.
Some coastal communities are markedly more prosperous than others. This
is true looking around the coast of England as a whole, and within the Eastern
region. On a wide range of socio-economic indicators, Jaywick or Canvey
Island does not look very much like Aldeburgh or Southwold, or Great
11
Yarmouth like Southend. Often this is because these are very different places
in terms of their economy or their appeal to different income groups.
If there is an important lesson from the socio-economic statistics, therefore, it
is that a ‘one size fits all’ approach may not always be appropriate for the
region’s coastal communities.
12