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2
SECTION A
STATISTICS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS
1. General Statistics.
Area in Acres 1,390
Total Population (including Service personnel) 38,590
Number of inhabited houses (approx.) 11,706
Rateable Value-General Rate (l.4.57) 1,055,657
Sum represented by Penny Rate (Year 1957/58) £4,821
The total number of hereditaments is 14,258 of which 81% are
domestic dwellings. There are 2,319 commercial premises in the
town being 16% of the total hereditaments. The remaining
premises totalling 428 are classified as industrial, entertainment,
public utility, educational and miscellaneous.
2. Social Conditions.
The Royal and Ancient Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames
is a thriving market town situated in the County of Surrey on
the bank of the river Thames, and in the Greater London area.
The shopping centre provides the main economic function, but
there is also an important industrial activity mainly in Aircraft
and Engineering. Kingston is also a busy centre for
education and recreation. and is to some extent a dormitory town
for London business people.
An outstanding factor influencing the social conditions
is the fact of high employment and the Manager of the local Employment
Exchange has kindly provided the following information
regarding employment in Kingston and the surrounding districts.
"The employment position in the area is encouraging
and throughout 1957 there was an atmosphere of industrial
activity.
The redundancies in the Aircraft Industry were not as
heavy as first anticipated and following upon orders from
abroad many employees were recalled. It is expected that
present contracts will ensure steady employment for the
next few years, but, of course, the position of the aircraft
industry as a whole is uncertain at the moment.
At the commencement of the year there were 434 men
and 121 women registered as unemployed. During the year
10,968 men and 3,402 women registered for employment but
turnover of labour continued at a high rate and at the end
of the year only 380 men and 89 women were unemployed.
Long term unemployment was again restricted to
elderly men and some disabled persons.
The current unemployment figure for this area
represents .4% of the insured population and compares very
favourably with the National figure of 1.5%.
At the end of the year there were over 600 local
vacancies for men and over 500 for women,, During the year
some 3,268 men and 1,394 women were placed in employment
in this area.