Nearly a third of working age people in Bolton are “economically inactive”, a report has found.
This comes after the release of the most recent Public Health Report found people in the borough experience poorer health than the average for England.
The report was presented to a meeting of Bolton Council’s cabinet last week.
Cabinet member for adults, health and wellbeing Cllr Sean Fielding said: “These reports are statutory and have been since 2012.
“And they are really useful in holding up a mirror to ourselves and the challenges we face but also the strengths that we have in some of our communities.”
Cllr Fielding said these strengths included the work done by community groups around Bolton but also in the understanding of the causes of poor public health.
He said this included housing, stable employment and good social networks which Cllr Fielding said were all part of a “holistic approach.”
Cllr Fielding said: “And so if we think about sorting out people’s security of tenancy and make sure their homes are safe and we can create the kind of jobs that people need to provide for themselves here in Bolton then we know that a lot of the other public health problems that they on to face essentially sort themselves out.”
The report found that Bolton is amongst the 20 per cent most deprived local authority areas in England and that 30 per cent of residents between 16 and 64 are “economically inactive.”
This meant that they were not working or seeking work, with around 29 per cent of these people classified as “long term sick.”
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It also found that 26 per cent of the population of Bolton live in areas that are among the most 10 most deprived nationally.
The public health report also found that in Bolton there were 47 violent crimes per 1,000 people over 2023.
This was fewer than the year while 41.2 per cent of the population being admitted to hospital for violence over the same year was also fewer than the year before.
But this was still “significantly worse than England as a whole.”
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