A COUNCIL BOSS has said there is still plenty of work to do despite Coventry being ranked as one of the UK’s top ten cities for population growth, innovation and housing stock growth.
Coventry has been ranked inside the top then in three key areas by the Centre for Cities Annual Outlook health report, which conducted research on 63 cities.
It highlighted Coventry’s performance in everything from housing to businesses and broadband to being environmentally friendly. It also gave a snapshot of the make-up of the city’s population.
Coventry was ranked eighth for population growth and forth for being an innovative city.
The city came ninth in housing stocks, with a rise of 1,100 new homes homes. In total there are 135,870 homes with the average house price sitting at just over £160,400.
Coventry’s employment figures were so not good with the city being ranked 59th for the percentage of working age people with no formal qualifications (14.8 per cent) and 56th for its unemployment rate.
The report also highlighted how just over a quarter of the city, 26.17 per cent, was aged 19 or under ranking the ninth highest in the table with another 17.5 per cent in their 20s.
The amount of people born outside the UK put Coventry 7th in the table for its diversity, with just over 21 per cent.
The city ranked poorly for CO2 emissions coming 51st out of the 63 cities and was placed 18th for the amount of people with high speed broadband.
Councillor Abdul Khan, deputy leader of the council, said it was good to see the city ranked highly again for innovations and the young population showed how important their universities were and what an impact they were having on the city.
“And the future is looking bright, with the recent announcements by Jaguar Land Rover and LTC, along with work starting on the Friargate development – which will create up to 15,000 jobs – and investment from Coventry University as it continues to attract talented students from around the world,” he added.
“But we also know there is work ahead, our employment rate and the number of people with no formal qualifications show that we need to do more as we continue our drive towards taking our place as a top 10 city.
“We need to help make sure people are ready for employment as the city gathers more interest from firms around the UK and abroad, so Coventry jobs are there for Coventry people.
“Coventry has always had a skilled workforce ready to adapt to the challenges ahead and we need to continue that so we can deliver more economic growth and success. We will continue working with partners to make sure that happens.”
