Worcestershire County Council: local authority assessment

Worcestershire is a county of 672 square miles situated in the West Midlands, bordered by Herefordshire, Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Birmingham and Dudley. It has a blend of urban and rural environments, with 85% of the county classed as rural. The main urban areas are Worcester, Redditch, Kidderminster and Bromsgrove. The county has a two-tier system of local government comprising Worcestershire County Council and six district councils.

In 2021 approximately 614,000 people live in Worcestershire, a 6.6% increase from the 2011 census. Worcestershire is home to 138,000 residents aged 65 and over (23% of the total population). This means Worcestershire has a higher proportion of older people than the national average, with a 27% rise in the 65+ population compared to the national average increase of 9%. The county is not very ethnically diverse, 93.84% of the population identified as White, and 6.16% identified as from Black, Asian and minority ethnicity backgrounds. The proportion of ethnic minority people in the county increased by 7.6% between 2011 and 2021.

Worcestershire’s Index of Multiple Deprivation score is 4 (with 1 being the least deprived and 10 being the most deprived). The highest levels of deprivation are in more urban areas, where health inequalities are impacted by higher rates of unemployment, sickness, poor housing, and lower educational attainment. Life expectancy at birth in Worcestershire is generally higher than the England average, with recent data indicating approximately 79.9–80.0 years for males and 82.9–83.9 years for females. However, significant inequalities exist, with life expectancy in the most deprived areas up to 7.6 years lower for males and 6.2 years lower for females compared to the least deprived.

Worcestershire is one of 2 counties in the NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board. At the time of our assessment the council was under no overall control, with Reform UK being the largest party since the 2025 local elections.