Newham

See the Borough highlighted in red above

Comparisons

Compare Newham's overall performance against other boroughs

Newham is highlighted particularly in the relevant indicators listed on the right. In addition, data for all boroughs feature in the indicators below:

Borough profile

The borough was formed by merging what was formerly the Essex county borough of East Ham with the county borough of West Ham. North Woolwich also became part of the borough (previously being in the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, in the County of London) along with a small area west of the River Roding which had previously been part of the Municipal Borough of Barking. Newham was devised for the borough as an entirely new name but we have used it to refer to the areas it now contains when outlining the history below.

Situated just 3 miles from the City of London, it is currently bordered by Tower Hamlets and Hackney to the West, Waltham Forest and Redbridge to the North, Barking and Dagenham to the East and Greenwich to the south. Newham is bounded by the River Thames in the south, by the River Lea in the west, the River Roding in the east and Wanstead Flats in the north.

Newham’s location as the gateway to London is central to an understanding of its history. Rapid change came about in the 1850s with the building of the Royal Docks for the new steam ships. At that time they were the largest docks in the world and the first to be directly linked to the railways and quickly, Newham grew to be the most important manufacturing centre in southern England. Thousands of people moved in to take up the jobs that were created, with new residents arriving from other parts of London and the UK but also many Indians, Chinese, Africans, Jews and Italians. Within a generation, however, these industries declined, auguring mass unemployment and emigration out of the borough. The Second World War saw many residents joining the armed forces and heavy bombing brought devastation to the south of the borough. While from the 1950s many new families, including from Asia and the Caribbean, were recruited to help with post-War reconstruction, Newham’s population experienced a steep decline from the 1930s to the 1990s.

Today, following 10 years of steady population growth, Newham’s population is estimated to be at around 250,000, although local charities point to hidden populations of up to 70,000, made up of the jobless, failed asylum seekers and other groups who are unable to claim benefits and do not have access to adequate, permanent social or private housing. Newham’s population is unique in a number of respects. Along with Brent, Newham is recorded as the local authority with the most diverse population in the country, although the distribution of ethnic groups is uneven across the borough. Asian/Asian British populations are densely located in the north, White populations in the south and Black/Black British populations slightly skewed towards the west of the borough.

Newham has the youngest age structure in England and Wales, with the highest proportion of children under the age of one in the country, and the second lowest proportion of population over the age of 65. At the same time, Newham has the highest number of families with dependent children and the largest average household size (2.64) in England and Wales, although this has decreased from 1991 when it was 2.67.

Newham emerges from this report at the “wrong” end of most of the indicators, be they work, health or homelessness. Newham has the highest rates of benefit recipiency in London. It also has high rates of ill health and premature death. However, it is one of the best performing boroughs at GCSE level – very few 16 year olds leave school in Newham with no qualifications.

LB Newham "website": http://www.newham.gov.uk

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