Demography, migration and armed forces figures released for Cheshire East

For the first time ever, figures around Cheshire East’s veterans and armed forces personnel have been collected.

Results recently released from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) provide an opportunity to gain insight as to the number of veterans in the borough, while also highlighting updates around demography and migration in the borough.

This recent release follows the first set of results for the 2021 Census which were published on Tuesday 28 June, following Census Day on 21 March 2021, offering valuable insight into the population of Cheshire East.Key results around Cheshire East’s armed forces veterans displayed:

• In 2021,12,826 people in Cheshire East reported that they had previously served in the UK armed forces (4.1 per cent of usual residents aged 16 years and over);
• Of the UK armed forces veterans in Cheshire East, 74.7 per cent (9,584 people) previously served in the regular forces, 20.8 per cent (2,670 people) in the reserve forces, and 4.5 per cent (572 people) served in both the regular and reserve forces;
• 247 Cheshire East armed forces veterans (1.9 per cent) lived in communal establishments and the remainder (12,580, 98.1 per cent) lived in households; and
• There were 12,154 households (7 per cent of all households) in Cheshire East with one or more people who served in the UK armed forces

The release of these figures coincided with Remembrance Day, which saw a series of services held across Cheshire East in celebration of our veterans and armed forces personnel, taking the time to remember the sacrifice made by the armed forces community from Britain and the Commonwealth. 

It also follows an important year shining a spotlight on the armed forces, after the council received the Armed Forces Covenant Silver Award Employer Recognition Scheme earlier this year.

This is awarded to organisations that pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to defence and the armed forces community, who commit to support serving personnel, reservists, veterans, families, cadets and the wider military community across the borough.

Results around demography and migration can be seen below:

• Deprivation in Cheshire East has decreased with 54.8 per cent of households not being deprived in any dimension, improving from 50 per cent in 2011;
• Overall, 65.8 per cent of households (115,100) were single family households, 30.4 per cent (53,100) were one person households and 3.8 per cent (6,600)were multiple family or other household types;
• Since 2011, the percentage of usual residents aged 16 and over who were married or in civil partnerships has decreased from 52.1 per cent in 2011 to 49.3 per cent in 2021;
• 2,600 usual residents had an address outside of the UK one year before the census, up from 2,200 in 2011; and 
• The majority of Cheshire East residents (91.7 per cent) were born in the UK - this has decreased from 2011 when it stood at 94.5 per cent

From the headline results in June, a growth in population was revealed in Cheshire East, which now stands at 398,800 residents – an increase of 28,700 from the previous census in 2011. 

The population in the borough has increased by 7.7 per cent since the last census in 2011, compared to 6.3 per cent in England and Wales, and 5.2 per cent in the North West region.

Sarah Bullock, director of policy and change for Cheshire East Council, said: “It’s great to see not only the latest population updates in our borough, but now with specific data around certain demographics, which will help us to better identify, represent, and become more accessible and inclusive to all our residents in the borough. 

“This first ever insight into veterans and armed forces personnel in Cheshire East is also really good to see – offering invaluable information that we’ve never had before, that will enable us to better support our veteran communities.

“I would again like to thank residents for their support in contributing to the 2021 Census.  The fact that we had a higher response rate in Cheshire East than the national figure, highlights the fantastic support and contribution we received – which will enable us to ensure decisions are made using reliable, up-to-date evidence.”

More national results can be found in the latest release here: 

ONS website.

Further figures from the 2021 Census are expected to be released in the coming weeks and months.