Soho Ward

(Source: 2001 Census, Crown Copyright/BCC)

Soho Ward is situated in the west of the city. It covers the majority of the old Soho Ward plus a small part of the old Aston and Ladywood wards. It has a younger age profile than the City average. The percentage of ethnic minority residents is above the city average. Unemployment is above the city average.

Soho Ward is one of four wards that make up the Parliamentary Constituency of Ladywood, it is an historic area, which includes Matthew Boultons former home, and the site of his manufactory. Nearby, over the boarder in Smethwich, is the site of Soho Foundry, where he and James Watt built steams engines. Also in the Ward are Birmingham (former Winson Green) Prison and City (former Dudley Road) Hospital. Soho Ward includes districts known as Gibs Heath and Winson Green. Major roads include Soho Road and Dudley Road.

The Ward supports a number of important local centres with many shops catering for the needs of minority ethnic communities within Soho and surrounding areas. These shopping centres are mainly located on Soho Road and Dudley Road. The nearby vicinity of Birmingham city centre complements these local shopping facilities.

Soho has good public transport links including Midland Metro which passes through the Ward, with stops at Jewellery Quarter Soho, Benson Road, Winson Green, Outer Circle, Handsworth Booth Street and the Hawthorns.

The two main arteries (Soho Road and Dudley Road) have a number of buses linking the Ward to the city and other parts of Birmingham and the Black Country.

The figures shown below are for the new ward boundaries, which came into effect in June 2004. Please note that only limited official data is currently available for the new wards and that the Census data is based on estimates produced by Birmingham City Council, which may vary slightly from data produced by ONS.

The ward area is 4.8 square KM in size, with a population density of 5,369 people per square KM. This compares with 3,649 people per square KM for Birmingham.

27.9% of people were aged under 16, 59% were aged between 16 and 59, while 13.1% were aged over 60. The average age was 31.2 years, compared with 36 years for Birmingham

The minority ethnic population made up 76.2% (19,522) of the wards population, compared with 29.6% for Birmingham. 47.8% of households were owner occupied and 35.9% were rented from either the local authority, housing association or other registered social landlord. The remaining 16.2% of households rented privately or lived rent free. The Census found that 9,313 (53.3%) of the population aged 16 to 74 were working or seeking work, this compared with 60.4% for Birmingham.

Performance indicators against floor targets show that issues of crime and especially robberies are particularly high. For motor vehicle crime Soho is ranked 38th out of 40 wards in the city.

However in terms of educational attainment Soho tends to be the best performing in the ward, but again below the city average for performance. Soho ward is the worst ranked for infant mortality as well as very lowly ranked in regards to unemployment.

Other key priorities to be addressed through policies and funding systems to raise performance against the floor targets.

Related links

Transport Information

Attachments