Local authorities have no legal requirement to create local area profiles; however, they can be seen as a useful tool when it comes to carrying out assessments on a local area. Local area profiles display relevant information regarding certain topic areas/policies, in this case the Gambling Act 2005. In order for the profile to be most effective, the content must be relevant - key characteristics relating to the specific area/policy can increase awareness of issues within the local area that can be connected to that specific policy.

Using a gambling related local area profile helps present useful information to the local authority that highlights potential and current issues within the local area. The highlighted issues should be considered before any gambling related decisions are made, such as authorising premise licences. Adhering to the licensing objectives is something that the local area profile contributes towards. This local area profile will look at York’s resident information such as areas of deprivation, crime and disorder and how they can relate to gambling, as well as how these factors can help identify and inform current and potential gambling related risks within the local area.

The general aims of the following Gambling Act 2005 local area profile are:

a) to identify the areas within the City of York mostly likely to be at risk of gambling related harm, which may help to identify possible persons who could be at risk of gambling related harm

b) to provide sufficient and relevant information to inform local authorities where current and potential gambling related issues are present so controls and measures can be put in place to minimise these issues/risks

c) to inform the local authority of information relevant to York in order to provide a footing for the decision making process in gambling contexts

2. York Open Data

York Open Data is a platform created by the City of York Council which holds over 1000 different datasets, all of which are related to the City itself. All of the information is available for the public to access and manipulate. The ranges of datasets on the platform are vast, some of which have helped with the creation of this profile; particularly the York Profile and individual Ward profiles.

3. York Information

York is part of the Yorkshire and Humber region and a City within North Yorkshire. York and its unitary local authority (City of York Council) provide local council services to around 210,000 residents over an area covering and estimated 105 square miles. The City is made up by 21 Wards, all of which have their own Councillor(s).

The student population in York is a huge contributor to York’s overall population with 22,643 full time students between the two Universities in York, The University of York and York St. Johns University (2011 Census). York is a popular tourist destination with vast amounts of visitors both from the UK and from overseas. The City is easily accessible, with York seen as a major railway centre frequently providing services to and from all corners of the UK. Visitors from overseas are able to access the city with ease due to the rail service from Manchester Airport and Leeds Bradford Airport just a 30 mile road journey.

3.1 Hostels/Supported Housing & Drug/Alcohol Facilities

Within the 21 York Wards there are 5 hostels, all catering for different groups of people. Fishergate has 2 hostels within its Ward, similarly with Guildhall Ward who also has 2, with Holgate Ward being responsible for 1.

In addition to this, York has a Drug and Alcohol Service which provides help for individuals, families and local communities with issues involving substance misuse. This particular service can be found on Blossom Street, within the Micklegate Ward.

3.2 Education

Understanding and being aware of the whereabouts of educational facilities should be instrumental in regards to making gambling related decisions, particularly in terms of gambling premises, as children are seen as a vulnerable group of people in gambling terms. The table below shows the schools which are in the catchment area of each Ward and alongside is the licensed gambling premises in that Ward (excluding alcohol licensed premises with gaming machine & club gaming and pub gaming licenses).

4. Demographics

4.1 Demographic profile

The York Open Data platform creates demographic York profiles on a quarterly basis – it has the ability to do this by using both Census information (most recently 2011) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates. The York profile on the platform provides information relating to population, households, economy and health just to name a few. York has 211,012 residents, 51.4% female and 48.6% male – percentages which are consistent with the whole of North Yorkshire. York residents include 5.7% from a black and minority ethnic community group, 83.9% are in good health, with 15.4% stating that they have some limitation in day to day activities.

York Profile Population Breakdown

The most recent population estimate carried out by the ONS (2020) estimates York’s population to be 211,012, with 107,370 (50.9%) females and 103,642 (49.1%) males. This is consistent on a larger scale with the overall percentage figures for North Yorkshire.

More information on York Ward Profiles can be found on the York Open Date web page here: https://data.yorkopendata.org/dataset/york-ward-profiles-2021-22-q1

4.2 Index of Multiple Deprivation

The City of York has low levels of deprivation in comparison to other districts in the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). The IMD provides a measure for deprivation in small areas (Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs)). To measure an areas’ deprivation level, seven factors with their individual weights (%) are considered in order to create the IMD:

Income Deprivation (22.5%)
Employment Deprivation (22.5%)
Education, Skills and Training Deprivation (13.5%)
Health Deprivation and Disability (13.5%)
Crime (9.3%)
Barriers to Housing and Services (9.3%)
Living Environment Deprivation (9.3%)

Information relating to each individual factor is gathered and ranked before they are all combined to create an overall IMD score. Once each individual area has been scored, they are ranked – York is ranked 267 out of 317 lower tier local authority districts on average IMD score (1 is most deprived) so York is the 51^st least deprived district in England. York has risen 17 places in the rankings since 2015 when it was the 68^th least deprived district.

York is the least deprived upper tier local authority out of 15 in the Yorkshire and Humber region based on 2019 average IMD score. This is the same regional ranking as in 2015.

In 2019 York is the second least deprived lower tier local authority out of 21 in the Yorkshire and Humber region based on 2019 average IMD score. This is the same regional ranking as in 2015. (Harrogate is the least deprived district in the Yorkshire and Humber Region).

In 2019 York has 1 LSOA falling in the most deprived 10% (decile) nationally and 41 LSOAs falling in the least deprived decile nationally. About a third of LSOAs in York fall in the least deprived decile nationally. York has 6 LSOAs falling in the most deprived 20% (quintile) nationally and 62 LSOAs in the least deprived quintile nationally. About half of LSOAs in York fall in the least deprived quintile nationally.

4.3 York areas of deprivation

The map and table below shows all of the York Wards and their most recent IMD score, as well as previous year’s scores.

Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2015: York Wards

From the above information, it shows Westfield, Clifton and Guildhall to be the most deprived Wards in York. Westfield contains 1 LSOA that features in the most deprived 10% nationally. York has a further 5 LSOAs which are present in the most deprived 20% nationally – 2 LSOAs in Clifton, 2 LSOAs in Westfield and 1 LSOA in Hull Road.

As of the 2019 IMD, these are the 10 LSOAs in York with the greatest deprivation levels:

LSOA

1. York 018B Westfield (E01013443)

2. York 009D Clifton (E01013349)

3. York 009C Clifton (E01013347)

4. York 018F Westfield (E01013448)

5. York 015C Hull Road (E01013399)

6. York 018C Westfield (E01013444)

7. York 016B Holgate (E01013394)

8. York 004D Huntington & New Earswick (E01013410)

9. York 012A Acomb (E01013335)

10. York 009E Clifton (E01013350)

Westfield has 14,171 residents with 3.1% from a black and minority ethnic community group. 78.9% are in good health, with 18.8% stating that they have some limitation in day to day activities.

Westfield Ward holds 3 LSOAs out of the 10 most deprived LSOAs in York:

1. York 018B Westfield (E01013443)

2. York 018F Westfield (E01013448)

3. York 018C Westfield (E01013444)

This includes 1 LSOA ranked in the most deprived 10% nationally - York 018B Westfield (E01013443) & 2 LSOAs ranked in the most deprived 20% nationally - York 018F Westfield (E01013448) & York 018C Westfield (E01013444).

Clifton has 10,007 residents with 7.8% from a black and minority ethnic community group. 83.5% are in good health, with 15.2% stating that they have some limitation in day to day activities.

Clifton Ward holds 3 LSOAs out of the 10 most deprived LSOAs in York:

1. York 009D Clifton (E01013349)

2. York 009C Clifton (E01013347)

3. York 009E Clifton (E01013350)

Two these LSOAs are ranked in the most deprived 20% nationally - York 009D Clifton (E01013349) & York 009C Clifton (E01013347).

Hull Road has 15,055 residents with 15.1% from a black and minority ethnic community group. 88.9% are in good health, with 10.2% stating that they have some limitation in day to day activities.

Hull Road Ward holds 1 LSOA out of the 10 most deprived LSOAs in York:

1. York 015C Hull Road (E01013399)

This LSOA is ranked in the most deprived 20% nationally – York 015C Hull Road (E01013399).

Holgate has 12,786 residents with 3.8% from a black and minority ethnic community group. 84.3% are in good health, with 14.0% stating that they have some limitation in day to day activities.

Holgate Ward holds 1 LSOA out of the 10 most deprived LSOAs in York:

1. York 016B Holgate (E01013394)

Acomb has 9,269 residents with 2.2% from a black and minority ethnic community group. 82.2% are in good health, with 17.1% stating that they have some limitation in day to day activities.

Acomb Ward holds 1 LSOA out of the 10 most deprived LSOAs in York:

1. York 012A Acomb (E01013335)

Huntington and New Earswick has 12,698 residents with 2.4% from a black and minority ethnic community group. 79.3% are in good health, with 21.1% stating that they have some limitation in day to day activities.

Huntington & New Earswick holds 1 LSOA out of the 10 most deprived LSOAs in York:

1. York 004D Huntington & New Earswick (E01013410)

5. Crime and Disorder

The City of York Council works alongside North Yorkshire Police in an attempt to combat and reduce crime in the local area. In the year ending March 2021, in comparison to areas which are classed as similar to York, the rate of crime in York was lower than the average crime rate of those areas. Despite this, within that particular time frame, the crime rate in York was greater than the average crime rate of other places covered by the North Yorkshire Police Force.

Below is a breakdown of the reported crime in York – year ending March 2021.

5.1 Crime and gambling

In Great Britain, in 2020 42% of people agreed with the statement that gambling was associated with criminal activity, which is comparable with the figure reported in 2019 (43%), just over a 1% decline on the previous year (Gambling Commission 2020).

In the year ending December 2020 (ONS 2020), in England and Wales the types of crime that people predominantly associate with gambling are theft to continue gambling (24.5%), fraud (6.0%), drug dealing/trafficking/prostitution (3.4%) and money laundering (1.9%).

In comparison to this, 29% of people in Great Britain agree that gambling is fair and can be trusted, just over a 4% decline on the 2017 figures (Gambling Commission 2020).

The above statements and figures suggest that people’s perceptions of gambling are deteriorating, with an increase of people with negative perceptions and a decline of positive perceptions – indicating that gambling related crime is arguably a growing problem in Britain. The rates of crime have very marginally decreased in York from the previous 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite this, York’s crime contribution to North Yorkshire’s overall crime number has decreased from 32.6% year ending March 2020 to 29.6% year ending March 2021.

6. Gambling

6.1 Gambling premises

Similar to the majority of towns and cities in the UK, there are numerous premises where gambling is present in York, such as high street bookmakers (betting shops), bingo premises, arcade premises and pubs/clubs who hold permits for gaming or machines. In addition to this, York is home to York Racecourse which is the 3^rd biggest horse racing track in Britain in terms of prize money and hosts up to 350,000 visitors per year. A breakdown of the gambling premises currently known to York can be found below – including all different types of premises that are present.

As the table above shows, there are plenty of opportunities to gamble within York. With there being many opportunities available, there are risks that become apparent. There are many risks associated with gambling, whether it be personal risk such as debt or crime or risk on a larger scale, to the extent where families and relationships are affected, jobs are lost and potentially homes, all as a result of uncontrolled gambling.

In relation to this local area profile and the Gambling Act 2005, identifying areas/persons at risk of being harmed or exploited by gambling is a priority. Problem gamblers are not the only ones who can experience gambling related harm – this could relate to family members, friends, employers, the community as well as the individual.

Identifying a problem gambler is difficult as there are no specific criteria to identify a person. The gambling commission does not define a vulnerable person in the context of a problem gambler.

6.2 Gambling statistics

From the latest gambling participation and problem gambling reports (year to June 2021), there were several key findings:

Overall participation in any gambling activity (in the last four weeks) has fallen to 42% (a 3.5% decrease compared to June 2020).
Online gambling participation rate is 25% (a 3% increase compared to June 2020)
Whilst in person participation is down to 24% (an 8% decrease compared to June 2020). It should be noted that much of the online increase can be explained by increasing proportions of respondents playing National Lottery draws online.
The overall problem gambling rate is statistically stable at 0.4%.
The moderate risk rate has decreased significantly to 0.7% (a significant 0.7% decrease compared to June 2020).

The most recent gambling participation and perceptions report was published in year December 2017. Key statistics and findings below:

45% of people have gambled in the past four weeks (including National Lottery play) (a 3% compared to December 2016)
18% of people have gambled online in the past four weeks (a 1% increase compared to December 2016)
1% of people who have gambled, have played on machines in a bookmakers in the past four weeks (No change compared to December 2016)
0.8% of all respondents identified as problem gamblers, and 3.9% identified as at-risk gamblers.
51% of online gamblers did so using a mobile phone or tablet (an 8% increase compared to December 2016)
On average, online gamblers held 4 accounts each (an increase of 1 compared to December 2016)
6% of gamblers have ever self-excluded (No change compared to December 2016)
26% of gamblers follow gambling companies on social media (a 6% decrease compared to December 2016)
33% of people think gambling is fair and can be trusted (a 1% decrease compared to December 2016)
41% of people think that gambling is associated with crime (a 2% percent increase compared to December 2016)

7. Sources of Data

1. York Open Data – York Profile https://data.yorkopendata.org/dataset/york-profile

2. York Open Data – Ward Profiles https://data.yorkopendata.org/dataset?sort=metadata_modified+desc&tags=ward+profiles

3. Statistics on gambling participation and problem gambling – Annual Report June 2021 (Gambling Commission)

4. Gambling participation in 2017: behaviour awareness and attitudes – Annual Report Feb. 2018 (Gambling Commission)

5. Office for National Statistics (ONS) https://www.ons.gov.uk/

6. Civica – City of York Council