The overall UK RBI score has remained unchanged at 65/100. However, our data shows that 94% of working UK households have experienced a pay cut in real terms over the past 12 months and the cost-of-living crisis has hit the poorest households hardest.
Staying healthy is a priority for everyone. But with the nurses and ambulance driver strikes and increasingly lengthy GP and hospital waiting times, we have seen a fall in sentiment across the board for primary, secondary and tertiary care. RBI Health scores fell in North-West England, Yorkshire & Humber, East Midlands, East of England, London and Wales.
After a consistent rise in the Education index, the improvement has stalled for the past two quarters. Nevertheless, it has risen from 67 points to 70 since the launch of the RBI and only the East and West Midlands saw a decline in the most recent survey.
The housing score fell for the seventh consecutive quarter and its overall score of 54 means it is 10 points behind the next of our seven key areas. Within the housing index all measures have continued to fall, including perceived extent to which local housing meets local needs and the perceived availability of starter homes.
We are aiming to build 3,000 affordable homes a year to help tackle the housing crisis.
There has been little change in the Jobs & Economic Prosperity score over the past quarter, but our data suggests that high inflation and interest rates are hitting household sentiment. While scores for average earnings and levels of unemployment have improved, sentiment towards local prospects have declined.
Through our Bruntwood SciTech partnership we operate a network of science and innovation centres designed to bring high-quality jobs and prosperity to 11 locations from Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester to Birmingham.
This index has seen a slight decrease as a result of falling scores for the amount of renewable energy generated per household and the perceived energy efficiency of homes. Regions where sentiment has declined include North-West England, Yorkshire & Humber and the East Midlands.
We have invested in three offshore wind farms off the coast of the UK with the capacity to provide power for up to two million homes. They include the 174-turbine Hornsea Project One off the coast of Yorkshire.
Inflation has led to a significant rise in the cost of transport and our Transport index saw declines in sentiment across key regions, including the West Midlands, South-East of England, South-West of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Digital is the only index that saw an improvement in the RBI score. Digital infrastructure is essential to creating high-quality jobs across the country. We invest in digital infrastructure through our Kao Data business, which has three data centre sites near London.