In Autumn 2023 the Communities Team in Frome Town Council began working towards a goal to create a picture of ‘what matters’ to Frome. Over Spring and Summer 2024, the team held pop-up engagement events all over Frome in addition to an online survey. To provide a bigger picture, we also commissioned a report looking at data from high-quality sources that could show us how Frome compares to nearby towns, Somerset and the rest of the UK as well as insights into differences within Frome.
The work was led by a strong desire to engage widely with our community so that the town council can be confident that the goals and projects they are working towards are what really matters to the town. It offers a ‘snapshot’ of where we are at and can be used as a starting point on which to build further engagement, inform decision making, set targets, identify gaps and look for trends. We have made as much as possible publicly available so that our wider community organisation network can use the findings to support their work and fundraising efforts.
Previous reports
In 2016 Frome Town Council commissioned a report compiled by Somerset Intelligence Network. The key facts of the report are summarised below or download the full report:
Key Facts
At the Census 2021, 28,569 people lived in Frome.
5556 people were aged under 16. This represents 19.45% of the population, which is higher than the average in Somerset (16.91%) and the South West (16.93%).
5862 people were aged 65+, which is a lower rate than in Somerset (24.83%) and the South West (22.34%).
- Frome has, on average, lower levels of food insecurity than the South West and lower levels of food insecurity than Somerset.
- However, Frome has higher need for family food support than the South West and higher need than Somerset.
- Average house prices have increased by 25% between 2018-2023 and have been consistently higher than Somerset but similar to the England average.
- Housing affordability gap for entry level house: £2744816*. The gap between the average entry level house price and 4.5 times average annual salary is much higher in Frome compared to England (-£39328) *available data is from 2017.
- Frome has a slightly higher proportion of overall social rented housing compared to Somerset and the South West.
- 429 households are classified as overcrowded with at least one room fewer than needed for household requirements.
- Frome has an average of 4 parks, public gardens, or playing fields within 1,000 m radius, compared to 3 in Somerset and 2 in England.
- Community Needs Index – 17,46424. Frome has lower levels of community need than the South West (13,588) and lower levels of community need than Somerset (11,348).
- Frome has 3.14 charities per 1,000 population. This is slightly fewer than the number of charities per 1,000 across South West (3.52) and Somerset (3.96), but comparable to England (2.79). Historically, Frome based organisation have received less grant funding than the average in Somerset and the South West.
- In Frome, 21.84% of people aged 16-64 (3720 in total) have claimed DWP benefits as of August 2023. This is higher than the proportion in South West (19.45%) and higher than the proportion in Somerset (20.25%).
- According to the 2019 version of the Depravation Affecting Children Index, 15.38% of children in Frome are income deprived. This is higher than the proportion in the South West (14.11%) and higher than the proportion in Somerset (13.58%).
- 1,084 children aged 0-19 in Frome are in relative low-income families. Of these, 794 are from families who are in-work, 306 are from out-of-work families.
- The rate of state school pupils in Frome participating in higher education is 28.60%. This is lower than the South West (35.78%) and lower than Somerset (33.25%).
- Overall crime rates are going up in Frome at a higher rate than in Somerset and the South West. Violent crime and sexual offences were the most frequent offences in Frome, followed next by shoplifting offences. In comparison, anti-social behaviour has been relatively stable since 2022 and has improved over the past 10 years with a decreasing number of offences.
- People in Frome have less access to civic assets (these include pubs, libraries, green space, community centres, swimming pools) compared to people in England.
- Frome uses less energy and has more energy efficient dwellings compared to Somerset and the South West.
