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Updated 11.5.13

27 March 2011 saw the 20th national census for the UK.  Number crunching all those returns takes some time, so the results are being released piecemeal from 2012 onwards.

The census collates the figures for a number of different areas, for Hartley the main ones they use are set out below, but they also cover other areas such as Health Authorities, Parliamentary Constituencies and civil parishes.

Unless otherwise stated, the information set out in the paragraphs below relates to the ward of Hartley and Hodsoll Street.

Although England's population is rising rapidly, up from 49.1 million in 2001 to 53.0 million in 2011, the population of Hartley and Hodsoll Street slightly fell to 5,835.   Both Sevenoaks and Dartford Boroughs have seen increases in population.  Sevenoaks is up 5,000 to 114,893.  While Dartford, thanks to significant building of houses, has risen from 85,911 in 2001 to 97,365 in 2011.

The figures are further broken down to the 4 lower layer super output areas listed above.  The Wellfield area recorded the largest change with a fall in population of 51 since the last census.

Of the 5,835 in the ward, there are 2,816 males (48.3%) and 3,019 females (51.7%)

What is striking is the greying of the population in Hartley - the number of people over the age of 60 rose over the ten years from 28% to 35% of all residents, those aged 60-64 are now the largest age group.  

The commonest age was 62 with 116 people that age, followed by 64, 63, 67, 45, 68, 52, and 48 (all over 100).  In England, reflecting the baby boom of the 1960s, the commonest ages are 46, 45, 44, 47, 42 and 43.

The other parishes in general follow Hartley's pattern of fewer children and more older people, which may have an effect on future school and social service provision for example.  All except Ash show an increase in those aged 20-24, could this be caused by higher house prices stopping people getting on the housing ladder?

In line with the national trend there has been a significant rise in the numbers of people who say they have no religion.  The question is an optional one on the census and these figures do not include the 8% or so who declined to answer.    

Very little change since 2001.

The 2011 did ask a number of other questions.  It found 95.1% of people in Hartley and Hodsoll Street were born in the UK (98% of them in England) and 3.9% had been resident for more than 10 years.  About half of those not born in the UK had arrived as children.  

When it came to national identity within the UK, 72% of people in the ward said they were English only, 10% English and British, and 14% British only.  The proportion saying English only is significantly higher than England as a whole (60%).  This question was not asked at previous censuses, but it is believed that in the past many more people would have identified themselves as British.

English is the main language of 98.9% of the population aged over 3.  86% of those for whom English is not the mother tongue said they can speak the language well or very well.

The number people owning houses is much higher in Hartley and Hodsoll Street than England as a whole.  Given the age profile of the ward, it is not surprising that a greater proportion are also owned outright.

Under the influence of Bluewater, shop work is the main profession locally, followed by construction and human health.  Once the largest employer in the c19th, now only 16 people are employed in agriculture.

The figures relate to the 2,664 people aged between 16 and 74 in employment, the figures are further broken down by the 1,430 men and 1,234 women.  They show there are still considerable differences between the sexes when it comes to employment sectors.  For men the biggest employer is construction, while for women it is health and social work.

Of the 2,664 in employment, 68% work full time (over 30 hours) and 32% part time.

Car ownership remains very high in Hartley and Hodsoll Street.  A total of 4,069 cars and vans were recorded in the census, and a majority of households own 2 or more cars.  The number of households with no car has fallen from 14% to 10%.

As a result of high car ownership, this is by far the most popular way of getting to work.  Car sharing is very low and has fallen since the last census.  There has been a significant fall of about 30% in total in the numbers working from home which has led to greater car and train usage.  

The figures are based on the numbers aged between 16 and 74 in employment.

95% describe their health as "fair", "good" or "very good".  224 people (3.8%) describe it as "bad" and 54 people (0.9%) describe it as "very bad".

697 people (11.9%) provide at least 1 hour of unpaid care every week.  Of those 113 are providing 50 hours or more per week.

The vast majority of people (90.2%) living in Hartley and Hodsoll Street have passports and so presumably take part in foreign travel.  Only 1% of households now do not have central heating at all, gas accounts for three quarters of all central heating systems.  The high level of car ownership has been mentioned above.

The census uses a measure called "occupancy rating" to tell whether a house is overcrowded.  A minus figure indicates overcrowding.  In Hartley and Hodsoll Street only 2.7% of houses have a minus occupancy rating, compared with 8.7% for England as a whole.

Source: Office for National Statistics. (Open Government Licence)