Performance Update - Quarter 3 / October to December 2023

This quarterly report, covering the period of October to December 2023, is intended to provide an update on performance against our 20 Year Vision and 3 Year Strategy, which were launched in November 2022, following comprehensive evidence review and stakeholder engagement.

The new Vision – our South Tyneside: a place where people live healthy, happy and fulfilled lives – is supported by five core ‘Ambitions’ – the things we want to achieve for local people over the next 20 years and the things that will guide all that we do.

We want all people in South Tyneside to be:

And we want these things for every resident, so we are committed to:

To deliver the 20-year Vision, we will focus our efforts through a series of clear 3-year Strategies – the first iteration (South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26) is published on the Council’s website.

When Council approved the new Vision and Strategy in November 2022, and in line with our new PROUD Council Values around being ‘open and honest’ and ‘delivering what we say we will’, we set out a clear intention to regularly report on our performance and progress.

The Council’s delivery framework includes robust performance management (indicators, targets and benchmarking), programme management (delivery against project milestones), financial management and budget monitoring (using resources effectively and within budget), and risk mitigation (proactive approach to barriers to delivery).

Cabinet has regular financial oversight through the Budget Monitoring Report.

These ‘Performance Update’ Quarterly Reports cover updates on our Key Performance Indicators, as well as progress with our key projects and other activity.

We also produce an Annual Report for Borough Council each January which sets out our progress against the five Ambitions over the previous 12 months.

The Council reviews many performance measures – some data is collected by us, some by partner agencies, like the Police or NHS, and some by Government or national bodies. This data is available at different times and different frequencies, for example monthly, quarterly, yearly, or less frequently.

We will therefore formally report on performance on both a Quarterly and Annual basis. The measures that are updated more regularly will be provided in the Quarterly Cabinet report, as they become available, and the full summary of all key measures will be provided within the Annual Review to Borough Council.

Below is the initial list of measures that will be reported - this list is under constant review and will be refined and added to, as appropriate.

South Tyneside Council serves a diverse population with a range of characteristics and needs.

The borough has a proud heritage, passionate and resilient communities, beautiful natural assets and huge growth potential through excellent connectivity, infrastructure, and business sector-growth. However, like other coastal regions with a strong industrial past, there are also some difficult and entrenched social, economic and health related challenges facing the borough.

These things are important context to our performance updates. Here’s a snapshot of our people and places:

Population

• 147,800 residents
• 48% Male, 51.5% Female
• 94.4% White; 2.9% Asian or Asian British; 0.5% Black, African, Carribean or Black British; 1.4% Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Group; 0.8% other Ethnic Group.
• There are 22.94 people per hectare of land in South Tyneside, a high population density compared to the 3.08 per hectare for the North East and 4.34 per hectare for England.
• 17.9% of the population is under 15
• 61.2% are aged 15-64
• 20.9% are 65 and over

Health and Wellbeing

• 51% of our children with free school meal eligible status achieve a good level of development at the end of Reception, compared to 48.7% regionally and 49.1% nationally.
• 59% of our pupils achieve the expected standard across reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2, similar to the regional and national average.
• In 2022/23, 25% of children in Reception and 42% of children in Year 6 were overweight or obese.
• By adulthood, this figure more than doubles; 65.9% of over 18s were overweight or obese in 20/21, compared to 63.5% nationally and 69.7% regionally.
• The rate of deaths from drug misuse has nearly doubled in the last decade and an estimated 1 in 5 South Tyneside residents (aged 16+) suffer from depression or anxiety.
• We have a thriving voluntary community sector in South Tyneside and a real sense of belonging in our communities, award winning national assets including 6 Green Flag Parks and a Sunday Times Beach of the Year, as well as affordable state-of-the-art leisure facilities - all things we know can contribute to good health and mental wellbeing.
• We have a high rate of domestic abuse in South Tyneside - with 4992 incidents reported in 2022/23.

Jobs and Skills

• 22% of jobs in South Tyneside are in the public sector
• South Tyneside's major strengths are in advanced manufacturing and the energy and offshore wind supply chain.
• 26.1% of the working age population has NVQ4 and above qualifications, lower than regionally (28.1%) and GB (33.9%).
• 29.5% of the local population have no qualifications, higher than regionally or nationally.
• 4 in 5 businesses surveyed rated South Tyneside a Fair, Good or Excellent place to run a business.

Inequalities

• Average life expectancy in the borough is 76.4 years for males and 81.2 years for females, but we know this varies considerably per ward (up to 12.1 years difference for males).
• The 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) ranked South Tyneside as the 23rd most deprived authority out of England's 151 upper tier authorities.
• South Tyneside's gap in the employment rate between people with a physical or mental long-term health condition and the overall employment rate is 14.8 - larger than regionally (13.9) and nationally (10.7).
• Almost 45% of South Tyneside's population live in the most deprived 20% of England.

Communities

• Coverage of 4G networks, superfast and ultrafast broadband are all above the national average.
• Just over 7 in 10 residents surveyed said they were satisfied with South Tyneside as a place to live.
• Close to 9 in 10 residents say they feel safe in their local area during the day, but less than half said they felt safe after dark.
• 6.3m visitors to South Tyneside a year.
• 399 metres is the average distance to the nearest park, playing field or public garden in South Tyneside, less than half that of national figure of 983.1 metres.

Financial Wellbeing

• 28.9% of South Tyneside's working age population was economically inactive between October 2022 and September 2023, the highest rate in the North East (25.3%) and above the national average (21.1%).
• Pay and income rates are below the regional and national averages with average gross weekly pay £600 in our borough compared to £666 nationally.
• 32.9% of primary and 29.1% of secondary school children are eligible for Free School Meals, compared to 24% and 22.7% nationally.
• 5.6% of the working age population were claiming out of work benefits as of July 2023, compared to 4.1% regionally and 3.7% nationally.
• 9.7% of people aged 18-24 were claiming unemployment benefits in February 2024, comapred to 6% regionally and 5.2% nationally.

We have analysed the data from this quarter and this section provides the headlines of the areas where we are seeing strong performance and also where our services and communities are experiencing challenges. Further detailed analysis, as well as information on any improvement actions or next steps, is included throughout the report.

*Most of the data is this report is based on financial years April to March and financial quarters. For ‘snap shot’ data, such as the number and rate of Children Cared For, which represent a single point in time, data is provided as at the end of the Quarter. For cumulative measures that rise as the year progresses, such as new referrals to social services, rates are calculated to show the rate from the 1st April to the end of the reporting Quarter to allow direct comparison with previous full year annual rates between 1st April to 31st March.

Performance Update

Key:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Neutral Performance neither positive nor negative

Our Performance

As we navigate an extremely challenging local and national economic context, many South Tyneside residents continue to be at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis. While we have all been impacted by inflationary rises in some way, increases in fuel and food costs hit low-income households the hardest. Although inflation is falling, prices remain high and continue to rise.

The rate of residents claiming unemployment benefits has been under 6% since May 2022. In the quarter ending December 2023, the rate fell to its lowest level since October and November 2018. However, these falls do not appear to be mirrored in increases in the borough’s employment rate. Quarterly data from the Annual Population Survey indicates the employment rate has been below 65% for the last four periods, while the borough’s economic inactivity rate (driven by long-term sickness) remains high (28.9% in the 12 months to September 2023). This suggests that the fall in the unemployment claimant rate may be due to people becoming economically inactive, rather than successfully moving into employment.

• The 16-64 unemployment claimant rate is South Tyneside was 5.2% at the end of December, a reduction from 5.3% at the end of Quarter 2 (September) and 5.8% in March 2023. This position is the lowest observed in the borough since November 2018. There were 4,695 claimants, down from 4,745 at the end of Quarter 2 and 5220 in March respectively. Our rate remains higher than in England (3.8%) and the North East (3.9%). South Tyneside still has the highest claimant rate in the Tyne and Wear ‘LA7’ area, followed by Gateshead, Newcastle and Sunderland (all 4.2%) and the second highest rate in the North East, after Middlesbrough (5.6%).

  The wards with the highest rates of claimants continue to be Simonside and Rekendyke (8.5%), Beacon and Bents (8.4%), and Biddick and All Saints (8.1%). Cleadon and East Boldon (1.3%) and Whitburn and Marsden (3.1%) have the lowest rates.

• Over 1 in 10 (10.3%) of 18–21-year-olds in South Tyneside were claiming benefits in December 2023, down from 10.5% in Quarter 2, but still higher than the rates of 6.3% regionally and 5.2% nationally. In December 2023, 7.3% of economically active residents (aged 16+) in South Tyneside were claiming out of work benefits. This rate the lowest level since late 2018 but remains higher than the North East (5.2%) and England (4.7%).

• 19,243 people were claiming Universal Credit in South Tyneside up from 18895 in September and 34.6% of these claimants were in employment, in line with regional and national levels.

  Note: The migration of people who are currently claiming Tax Credits claimants to Universal Credit may cause this number to rise. It will not be possible to differentiate how much of this rise is due to tax credit migration and how much is due to other reasons (e.g., rising unemployment). It may also be the case that some people in receipt of Tax Credits do not decide to apply for Universal Credit.

What are we doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area:

• 740 frontline workers and volunteers from across key local organisations were equipped with Winter Readiness cards and training that supported them to ask questions of service users at higher risk of fuel poverty, signposting them to the required help and support.
• Themes and priorities coming out of the second Anti-Poverty Summit in September, which brought together partners to discuss priorities for the next 12 months and beyond, have now been distilled into a comprehensive, partnership-wide Anti-Poverty Strategy, setting out partnership plans for supporting residents experiencing financial security over the short and long term.
• The Council’s new Anti-Poverty Coordinator, appointed in the Autumn, has also supported the multi-agency Poverty Group to press forward with priorities and action in line with the strategy.
• This has included work on various food security initiatives across the borough, including supporting the roll out of a new Hospitality and Hope community food shop in South Shields and working in collaboration with Key2Life on a Community Food Bus.
• Work has also continued around supporting the network of community venues offering Welcoming Places, including providing support with funding applications and connecting venues to expert support and advice.
• £8.3million was secured for local residents over the 2023/24 year by the Welfare Support team, who exceeded their target of 7.2m. The team continue to provide a range of support to residents struggling with debt, benefits and other personal finance issues.
• Thousands of children between the ages of 5 and 16 on benefit-related school meals took part in the free Holiday, Activities and Food programme over the Christmas holidays, enjoying a range of fun activities ranging from drama to boxing, as well as a nutritious meal every day, helping to reduce financial holiday pressures on low-income families.
• South Tyneside’s Member of Youth Parliament, Luke Hall, led a British Youth Council debate in the House of Commons in November campaigning for an extension of free school meals and outlining arguments for a ‘Food for Learning’ bill.

Additional Information

See the Financially Secure Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26 as well as the Health and Wellbeing Strategy for more information about plans in this area.

Best Start in Life

Performance Update

Key:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Neutral Performance neither positive nor negative

Children’s Social Care have seen consistent increases in demand for services in recent years. South Tyneside has higher rates of referrals in Children’s Social Care, Children in Need and Child Protection plans than England, similar Statistical Neighbour areas, but a lower rate of Cared for Children than the national average. All those rates have increased since the end of Quarter 2, with Child Protection showing the greatest rises but it is positive that the level of repeat Child Protection Plans and children becoming Cared For have reduced.

The Domestic abuse incident rate has reduced slightly but continues to be highest in the Northumbria Police force area. Domestic abuse in families with children is a key contributing factor in children needing support from children’s services. The already high level of children receiving support with complex special needs has also continued to rise in line with the ongoing trend over recent years.

• Referrals in Children’s Services

  1588 new referrals were started Children’s Social Care between April 1st and December 31st 2023. The rate (713.4 per 10,000) is up 1% on the 2022/23 (707.5 per 10,000), and above September (698.4) but is still down on the peak at the end of June (844.5). South Tyneside’s rate remains above our statistical neighbours (668), the North East (680.9) and England (545.0).

  The Police are still the highest source of new referrals, at 31.8% (506 referrals), down on the 33.8% April to December 2022/23 (541 referrals). The number of referrals started following contacts from education/schools was 18.1% (288), slightly higher than the 17.7% in April to December 2022.

  * Our statistical neighbours / similar areas are: North East: Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland Sunderland and North West: Halton, Liverpool, Salford, St. Helens, Tameside. The statistical neighbour rate is the average across these similar areas.

• Children in Need

  There were 1470 Children in Need* in South Tyneside at the end of December 2023, up 3% compared to the end of September (479.8 per 10,000) and 11% higher than pre-Covid (445.8 per 10,000, 1345 children in 2019/20). Our current rate is above Statistical Neighbours (466), the North East (458.2) and remains well above that in England (343).

  * Our Children in Need number covers all children with an open referral with Children and Families Social Care including children in assessment; triage, those with Child In Need Plans, Child Protection Plans, our Children Cared For and our Care Leavers.

• Child Protection Plans

  206 children had a Child Protection Plan at the end of December 2023, within the quarter this number peaked as high as 219 in October. The rate at the end of the Quarter 3 (69.4 per 10,000) is up by 10% (18 children) compared with the end of Quarter 2 last year end (188 children, 63 per 10,000) and March 2023 (also 63 per 10,000).

  Our rate is higher than that across our Statistical Neighbours (63.7) and the North East (65.5). South Tyneside’s rate remains significantly higher than England (41.4).

• 225 children became subject to a Child Protection Plan between April and December 2023 (113.6 per 10,000). This is 24% increase on Quarter 2 (91.6 per 10,000) and a 21% rise on the end of March 2022/23 (93.9 per 10,000). The rate remains well above the North East and Statistical Neighbours rate (both 87 per 10,000) and England (54 per 10,000).

• Repeat Child Protection Plans

  26.2% of Child Protection Plans beginning were repeat plans. 59 children had a repeat Child Protection Plan between April 1st and December 31st. This a decrease from the end of September (27.9%) and a 19% reduction compared with year end 2022/23 (32.3%). South Tyneside are currently above, but coming back closer in line with, the North East (24.9%), our Statistical Neighbours average (23.0%) and England.

  The level of children who had a repeat Child Protection Plan within 2 years of their previous plan has reduced to 9.8% (22 children) at the end of Quarter 3, down from 13.2%. This ongoing decrease on year end 2022/23 (15.4%) means our position is now lower than the North East (10.9%).

• Children Cared For

  313 Children were Cared For at the end of Quarter 3 2023. The rate, 105.4 per 10,000 children is in line with our Quarter 2 rate of 105.1 (312 children) and is 1% higher than the end of March 2023 position of 104.7 (311 Children). South Tyneside’s rate remains significantly lower than our statistical neighbours (122.4) and the North East at the end of March 2023 (110.3), but is much higher than England (67).

  18 of our Children Cared For are Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children (UASC), down from 19 at the end of Quarter 2. By way of comparison, there were 5 UASC at the end of 2021/22. The increase in numbers of UASC in recent years is reflective of the Council’s participation in the National Transfer Scheme.

• Children Becoming Cared For

  101 Children became Cared For between April and December 2023. The rate (45.3 per 10,000) has reduced from the end of Quarter 2 (49.3) and is currently 1% higher than Year End 2022/23 (44.8 per 10,000). Our rate of Children Becoming Cared For is above that across the North East (42.0 per 10,000) but is now lower than our Statistical Neighbour average (46 per 10,000).

• Adoptions

  16 children were adopted between April and December, with 6 adopted in Quarter 3. This is 17% of the 94 children who left our care which is higher than in 2022/23 (15.7% - 17 children). South Tyneside continues to be ahead of the national and regional positions (12% and 13.6%).

• Domestic Abuse Incidents

  There were 3,800 incidents of domestic abuse reported between April 1st and the end of Quarter 3 2023/34. The rate of 327.1 per 10,000 people is a 3% reduction on the Quarter 2 position (rate 336.1 / 2540 instances) and a 1% decrease on the year end 2022/23 rate of 330.3 per 10,000 (4992 instances). However, while there has been a reduction the level of domestic abuse incidents, South Tyneside’s rate remains well above all other areas in the Northumbria Police Force area, the next highest area being Gateshead (287.9 per 10,000). The rate was 265 incidents per 10,000 people across the Northumbria area.

  * Rates have been calculated by the Council’s performance team, based on the Police numbers provided. It should be noted that the rising reporting of domestic abuse incidents could be seen as positive as domestic abuse is often not reported but the higher rate compared to other areas is a concern.

• 1749 children and young people with more complex special needs were being supported through an Education, Health and Care Plan at the end of Quarter 3 (December 2023). This includes young people, older than school age up to the age of 25. This number is up 1% from the end of Quarter 2 (1731) and up (2.4%) on the end of Quarter 4 / March 2022/23 (1707). The position has risen markedly in recent years and is 12% higher than in (2019/20).

What are we doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area:

Major Projects Underway

Other things we are doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area includes:

• We have continued to make strong progress on our Children’s Services Improvement Journey. We had our first Ofsted Monitoring Visit in November 2023 which focused on children in need of help and protection, the quality of assessments, plans, and planning, and the quality and impact of pre-proceedings interventions. Our second Monitoring Visit took place in March 2024 and focused on the front door, including responses to children aged 16 and 17 who present as homeless. The findings of our second Monitoring Visit will be published. We are confident this will show the great progress we have made since the original inspection. We continue to work closely with partners and staff, and put the voices of children at the centre of everything we do.
• Building works started in November on a new children’s residential home in Hebburn which, together with a children’s home being built in Jarrow and a new assessment centre in South Shields, will almost triple the number of residential placements for looked-after children locally, meaning more young people in care are able to stay in the borough, close to their family and friends.
• This Christmas saw South Tyneside Council join a UK-wide advert calendar-style campaign, ‘Opening Doors to Fostering’, to recruit more foster carers in the run-up to the festive period by highlighting how foster carers can make the holidays extra-special for the children they care for.
• The Council’s Outdoor Education Service, which runs the Thurston Outdoor Education Centre in the Lake District, Simonside Climbing Wall, Water Activities Centre and Akenshawburn Cottages in Kielder, celebrated its 40th Anniversary of providing enriching experiences and outdoor skills to young people, marking the occasion with an ‘adventure race’ of water and land-based activities involving children and young people from the 3rd South Shields Sea Scouts, 4th East Boldon Scout Group, Young People’s Parliament, Young Health Ambassadors and the Council’s Youth Service.
• New interactive ‘GroBrain’ sessions are being offered at South Tyneside’s Family Hubs to local parents and carers to help them support their baby’s life-long emotional health and wellbeing through education on topics such as secure attachments and the importance of stress responses.
• The Council-run Stanley’s in Jarrow was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted inspectors, who reported that ‘Children’s benefit from supportive relationships with the kind and caring staff’ and praised work with parades which has boosted family library attendance and helped build further on the learning that happens in the nursery.
• The Council celebrated Care Leavers Week with a range of activities and events including go-karting, archery, climbing and more, aimed at boosting confidence and support for care-experienced young people.
• A new Young Carers ID card, aimed at supporting easier conversations with teachers and health professionals about what support and flexibility may be needed, has been co-produced with local young people with caring responsibilities with ID cards rolled out to all registered young carers and the scheme promoted within schools and further education settings.
• A new and improved support offer has been launched locally for Kinship Carers, carers who step into care for family members or friends when their parents can’t. Carers are now able to access preparation training as well as ongoing supervision and support from social workers, together with a training handbook and access to therapeutic advice for a mental health specialist and peer support groups. The Council also used Kindship Care Week, which took place in October, and was marked locally with an event at Ocean Road Community Centre, to promote the new offer and to celebrate the important contribution of kinship carers and the difference they make to the young people they support.

Additional Information

See the ‘Healthy and Well’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26, for more information about plans and activities to support this Ambition

Age Well

Performance Update

Key:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Neutral Performance neither positive nor negative

Demands on Adult Social Care have risen in recent years with more people overall requiring support from the service and more people requiring long term residential care. This is a national trend linked to an ageing population but demand for support is generally higher in South Tyneside. However, there has been a reduction in older people admitted to long-term residential care and our admission rate is coming back into line with the region. The Care Quality Commission ratings of the providers used by the Council remain overwhelmingly ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.

• Number of people with Commissioned Services

  2796 people were receiving a Commissioned Service in Adult Social Care at the end of Quarter 3 (December 2023), up slightly (+0.2%) from 2790 at the end of Quarter 2 and 14% up on the pre-Covid position in March 2020 (2448 people).

  Commissioned services can include care and support which have been arranged on behalf of a person by Adult Social Care. A financial assessment will take place to determine the level of financial contribution hat is necessary towards the funding of the service.

• Admissions to residential care for people aged 18-64

  12 people aged 18-64 were admitted to residential or nursing care to meet their long-term support needs between April to and December 2023. The rate of admissions, 18.3 per 100,000, is in line with Quarter 2 and 2022/23 (both 18.3) and remains higher than the latest regional rate (15.6 per 100,000) and the national rate (14.6 per 100,000).

• Admissions of people aged 65+ to residential care

  176 people aged over 65 were admitted to residential or nursing care between April and December 2023 (772.6 per 100,000). The admissions rate is down 8% from 841.6 in Quarter 2. There have been 47 less people admitted than there were between April and December 2022 when there were 214. It is positive that our rate is coming closer into line with the North East but it remains higher than the latest regional (762.8 per 100,000) and national (560.8 per 100,000) positions.

  The indicators above and the performance for 2023/24 are under review against the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework and are potentially subject to change pending the finalisation of returns and additional data quality checks.
  
  People being discharged from hospital into residential or nursing care is one of the key contributors for these admissions. The council, NHS South Tyneside and the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Hospital Trust have commissioned a review of the discharge process with partner Newton Europe to look at ways of working across the partnership that focus on as many people as possible returning to their usual place of residence before their admission to hospital. For those people who are unable to return, then we will look to use our reablement provision or extra care support to prevent or delay their admission into long term residential care and ensure they can live independently in their community for as long as possible.

• People in long-term residential placements

  804 people were in long term residential placements funded by Adult Social Care at the end of December, a decrease of -0.7% on the end of Quarter 2 (810), and a decrease of 2% on year end 2022/23 (806). This number has risen in recent years and is 8% higher than at the end of 2021/22 (747) and 12% higher than the end March 2020/21, when there were 718 people in long term residential care. This measure provides the number of people that were actually living in residential care on the 31st of December, whereas the new admission figures show new admissions of people who have moved into long-term residential care since the start of April to the end of December 2023.

• People in short-term residential placements

  At the end of December 2023 122 people were in short term residential placements funded by Adult Social Care, up 1.7% on the end of Quarter 2 (120) but 3.2% lower than at the end of March 2023 (126) and a -25% reduction on March 2022 (163).

• Provider Ratings

  96.4% of the providers used by the Council for residential, domiciliary care, extra care, specialist care, complex care and supported living, are currently rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission, down slightly from 96.6% at the end of Quarter 2. One residential care provider being rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ and one as ‘Inadequate’. Of the 60 total providers, 4 are yet to be inspected at this time.

• Satisfaction Ratings

  62.2% of people who use our Adult Social Care services were at least ‘very satisfied’ overall with their care and support in 2022/23. This is below the level in the North East (66.4%) and England (64.4%) in 2022/23 and Iower than the position in South Tyneside 2021/22 (67.3%), which had been in the top 25% of Council areas. 88.3% are at least ‘quite satisfied’, this is down a little on 2021/22 (89.7%) but remains above the latest 2022/23 National average (88.1%).

  * Data from 2022/23 published in December 2023.

What are we doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area:

Major Projects Underway

Other things we are doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area:

• The new Social Care Academy was officially launched in January to help boost recruitment, ongoing development, career progression and retention of adult social care workers locally. The new Academy, based at Millennium Phab Club in Grange Road, Jarrow, and made possible from a share of South Tyneside’s £8.8 million UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation, hosts learning and development opportunities aimed at equipping people in the important profession with the right skills and training to keep people healthy, well and connected.
• The innovative See and Solve service, which helps people live independently in their own homes by quickly installing equipment such as grab rails and bathing equipment, was awarded a Commendation of Excellence in the Outstanding Achievement of the Year category at the national Healthy Housing Awards 2023. In a challenging context of unprecedented demand for occupational therapy following the pandemic, the service has helped to cut waiting lists for people to see an occupation therapist from 500 to 55 and has cut waiting times from eight months to eight weeks.
• As of Autumn, South Tyneside has adjusted its arrangements for both children’s and adults safeguarding, moving from a joint safeguarding partnership to a separate Safeguarding Adults Board with an Independent Chair and a separate Safeguarding Children Partnership with an Independent Scrutineer.
• A new independent living scheme has been opened at Borrowdale House in South Shields, formerly a sheltered housing facility, which is now being used by people discharged from hospital who need additional support, such as reablement therapy, personal care and support and assistive technology, before they can move back home and live more independently.
• More detail has been revealed for the plans for new 120-home extra care scheme and integrated community hub on the site of the former Chuter Ede school and community association which will help to ensure more specialist, affordable accommodation options are available in the borough for those who need them.

Additional Information

For more information on the wider activities planned around supporting independence and wellbeing through adult social care and commissioning, please see the Living Better Lives 5-Year Adult Social Care and Commissioning Vision and Strategy and the ‘Healthy and Well’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26.

Live Well - Health and Leisure

Performance Update

Key:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Neutral Performance neither positive nor negative

Many public health measures have been worse in South Tyneside than the national average for some years. Levels of obesity for both the population as a whole and specifically for children, are in excess of the national and regional positions. Smoking prevalence is higher the average for England and the number of adults in treatment for alcohol and other substances has consistently risen in recent years. A number of initiatives are underway to support this ambition area and improve health across the borough. The majority of health data within our performance framework is based on annually updated figures provided by other public bodies. A more comprehensive set of measures will be available within our annual report (including physical activity, obesity, smoking prevalence, alcohol-related hospital admissions, emergency hospital admissions for self-harm and health life expectancy) and more detailed information can be found in the online South Tyneside Joint Strategic Needs and Assets Assessment.

• Mothers smoking at the time of delivery

  The latest quarterly snapshot available based on March 2023 for mothers smoking a time of delivery was 11.1%, above the latest positions for North East (10.5%) and England (8%).

• Leisure centre usage

  There have been significant rises in leisure centre usage in recent years. Although the latest position has slightly declined on Quarter 2, there are 9118 current members is a rise from 8307 at year end 2022/23 and 5589 in 2020/21. The proportion of concessionary members has also risen during the same time frame with 4 in 10 members now concessions. Competitive pricing and improved online booking options have allowed us to make our leisure offer more accessible.

What are we doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area:

• A £2m transport scheme is boosting safety and improving South Tyneside’s coastal walking and cycling routes by widening existing footpaths to accommodate pedestrian and cyclist lanes, simplify junctions and installing new signalised pedestrian crossings.
• A series of events and activities were held by the Council, the ‘A Better U’ network and other local partners in November to mark Self Care Week, with sessions including coffee mornings and exercise sessions aimed at encouraging people to take action to improve their mental and physical health and wellbeing.
• The Council, working with health partners, has hosted a range of clinics at family hubs and otherwise promoted opportunities for people to get flu vaccinations and Covid-boosters to help stay well over the winter-period.
• A new multi-agency Domestic Abuse Hub has now been established in the Biddick Hall and Whiteleas area, with the Council’s Restart Team working closely with the police to support local people experiencing all forms of domestic abuse.

Homelessness

Performance Update

Homelessness continues to be a rising concern nationally and South Tyneside is no exception. Recent years have seen rising rates of those confirmed as sleeping rough and a noticeable increase in both individuals and families who are presenting to the council as being at risk of homelessness. From a strategic housing perspective South Tyneside has outperformed neighbouring local authorities in terms of ensuring properties are not left vacant and there are numerous strategic initiatives being adopted relating to homelessness and housing throughout the borough. In the past quarter the rates of homelessness presentations and rough sleeping have shown some signs of abating.

Key:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past
• Neutral Performance neither positive nor negative

• Risk of Homelessness

  2254 people presenting as being at risk of homelessness between April and 1st and the end of December 2023. The projected yearly figure of 3005 is a 3% decrease on 2022/23 but is 33% up on 2019/20 demonstrating the prevalence of this issue in recent years.

  Homelessness presentations are people contacting the Council concerned or at risk of becoming homeless, such as people at risk of losing their private tenancy or people who do not currently have a permanent place of residence. Most people contacting the council receive advice or guidance rather than accommodation.

• Rough Sleeping

  There were 14 people sleeping rough at some point in December 2023, a 30% decrease on September and a 33% decrease from December 2022. There was just 1 rough sleeper at the end of the month as compared to 4 at the end of Quarter Q2 and 3 in December 2022. The reductions on Quarter 2 are linked to the season and the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol in operation during winter, but it is positive levels of rough sleeping are lower than December 2022. People sleeping rough are defined as those sleeping or about to bed down in open air locations and other places including tents and makeshift shelters. The snapshot does not include people in hostels or shelters, sofa surfers or those in recreational or organised protest, squatter, or traveller campsites.

What are we doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area:

• Additional funding has been secured to expand the Council’s rough sleeping outreach offer and support the purchase of an additional temporary accommodation unit. This will be in addition to the existing 7 accommodation units that were purchased in the last year and currently being used to support vulnerable rough sleepers. The revenue grant for these existing units has now also been extended until March 2025.
• A self-assessment of homelessness services and the wider system has taken place, with findings and recommendations discussed amongst Council and South Tyneside Homes managers, and an action plan under development to tackle risks and move forward with opportunities for improvement.
• A new Operations Manager for Homelessness and Allocations is now in post, working to help get new systems in place and address risks identified within the Homelessness Self-Assessment.
• A review of exempt accommodation (supported accommodation that is exempt from certain housing benefit provisions, either resettlement accommodation or accommodation provided alongside care or support) has been worked through and a dedicated officer has been recruited to work on addressing challenges with this type of housing.
• Following the Supported Housing Act coming into force, the Council is awaiting the outcome of national consultations which will support the shaping of a new Supported Housing Strategy.
• The review and development of a new Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy has also begun, with consultation on the strategy planned for the new financial year.

Additional Information

For more information on the wider activities planned around promoting health and wellbeing, please see the ‘Healthy and Well’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26. South Tyneside’s Health and Wellbeing Board also oversees the delivery of the detailed Health and Wellbeing Strategy which includes comprehensive plans around themes including ‘Best Start in Life’, ‘Good Mental Health and Social Networks Through Life’, ‘Financial Security to Lead Healthy Fulfilling Lives’ and ‘Safe and Healthy Places to Live, Learn and Work’. At each Health and Wellbeing Board meeting there is a detailed exploration of one outcome.

Health and Wellbeing Board papers are published online. The South Tyneside Joint Strategic Needs and Asset Assessment contains a wealth of intelligence about a range of topics and more information on health and wellbeing services and intelligence.

Performance Update

Key:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past.
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past.
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past.
• Neutral Performance neither positive nor negative

South Tyneside has historically struggled with the employment measures related to our Connected to Jobs ambition compared to rest of England. The factors behind this are well known, deep rooted and unfortunately common across the North East where lower levels of employment has been a longstanding issue linked to pervasive deprivation and skills and health challenges. Levels of unemployment have been higher than those reported in England and much of the region for a number of years.

As a post-industrial coastal area, South Tyneside continues to navigate a legacy of intergenerational deprivation, as well as acute health and skills challenges. Nationally, the post-pandemic economy is tough, with inflationary pressures, high interest rates, and weak growth. While the entire country is experiencing these challenges, South Tyneside has not yet ‘bounced back’ post-pandemic to the same degree as some other places. Employment and unemployment figures locally are still worse than prior to the pandemic when these outcomes were already behind the regional and national rates. In spite of these challenges there have been positive recent developments with council skills programmes which will be boosted yet further by North East Devolution Deal. The vast majority of children in the borough attend schools rated good or outstanding by Ofsted and the Council has a positive record for supporting high numbers of our care leavers being in education, employment or training.

• Employment

  Our most recent published estimated employment rate was 62.4% in the 12 months to September 2023 (56,700 people). There has been a small improvement since June 2023 (61.5%) but the rate is still lower than in the North East (71.6%, up from 71.2% in June) and England (75.9%, up from 75.8%). South Tyneside's rate is also significantly lower than most other North East Local Authorities.

  Note: This rate is based on an Office of National Statistics (ONS) survey of the population with a small local sample size for South Tyneside. The data has been queried with ONS who confirm that they are not aware of any quality issues, but also that the data is subject to confidence issues based on small sample sizes. The margin of error for South Tyneside is +/- 4.4% as compared with +/- 1.1% in the North East and +/- 0.3% in England. The change in South Tyneside’s employment and unemployment rate is not statistically significantly different to the preceding four quarters but is highlighted as an ongoing trend. There have not been any large-scale redundancies or major movements in the labour market locally.

• Unemployment

  Our 16+ unemployment rate remained static at 6.7%, again underperforming the North East rate (4.2) and that of England (3.8). South Tyneside’s unemployment rate (16+) is the highest in the North East. Regionally, the rate is also unchanged June and in England it decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 3.7%.

• Young People NEET

  The situation for our young people is more positive with the rate of 16-17 year olds not in education, employment or training (5.8%) has fallen 0.1 % point since October* and the NEET rates are closer to the national and regional positions (both 6%).

  *NEET data from September is impacted by changes linked to the new academic year and enrolments on new courses being confirmed and is less reliable than other months.

• Care Leavers EET

  73.8% of our care leavers were in education, employment or training, up 9% on Quarter 2 (67.9%) and our position remains much higher than in England (56%) and the region (51.4%).

• Primary Schools

  93.4% of pupils were attending South Tyneside primary schools rated ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ at the end of the December. This is down 95.3% at the end of the summer term in July. This is higher than in England (92.3%) but below the North East (94.6%).

• Secondary Schools

  73.2% of our secondary school pupils attended schools rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ up from 72.7% in July. This is lower than across the North East (78.1%) and England (84.5%).

• Special Schools

  100% of South Tyneside’s four Special schools are rated ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ unchanged from July and remains higher than in the North East (87%) and England (89%). Special schools are not included in the measures of pupils above, as many provide both primary and secondary education. The proportion of children in Good or Outstanding special schools is not published for the region or nationally by Ofsted.

What are we doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area:

Major Projects Underway

Other things we are doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area:

• Over 700 young people and their parents took part in the Your Next Steps and Preparation for Adulthood events at Temple Park and Jarrow Focus in November, exploring post-16 education, employment and training options, including opportunities for students with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Free ‘Multiply’ courses are being offered by South Tyneside Works to help local adults without a GCSE in maths to boost their numeracy skills so that they can unlock job opportunities, help their children with homework, and manage their household budgets.
• South Tyneside’s Skills Team, together with the DWP, are expanding a pilot providing employment support to local over 50s who are out of work.
• £20m from the third round of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund has been awarded to South Tyneside Council for plans for a revitalised South Shields Town Centre and riverside after its package bid was highlighted as being ‘high quality and ready to deliver’. The funding will support three transformational projects: the relocation of South Tyneside College into South Shields town centre, a redeveloped Customs House and cultural quarter, and a flagship Centre of Excellence at the pioneering Holborn Renewable Energy Network.
• 11 local projects that focus on supporting people to move closer to the labour market have received UK Shared Prosperity Fund funding following an open call. The successful projects range from intensive support programmes to pre-employment support and work to address barriers to engagement.
• 40 restaurants, cafes and other eateries across South Tyneside took part in 2023 restaurant week between Monday 23rd and Sunday 29th of October. The campaign helps to promote and celebrate the borough’s vibrant hospitality trade, encouraging people to try out and support local businesses.
• Residents and businesses took part in of the eight-week ‘Our Hebburn Conversation’ which took place between November and January, asking questions about what the future might look like for Hebburn Town Centre, Riverside Park and Hebburn surrounding.
• The Tyne and Wear Pension Fund, which is managed by South Tyneside Council, has put its weight behind the local green economy by investing in specialised hybrid marine vessels that will provide operational support to Dogger Bank Wind Farm.

Additional Information

For more information on the activities planned to progress this Ambition, you can access the ‘Connected to Jobs’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26.

In addition, there are a suite of plans and strategies associated with this ambition area accessible online on the Council’s website, including the South Tyneside Economic Recovery Plan.

The South Tyneside Works website provides more information about local support available to residents looking to get into work, change career path or boost skills and Invest South Tyneside provides more information on inward investment activity and major job creation schemes.

Performance Update

Key:

• Area of strong performance Performing better than other areas or in the recent past.
• Some concern Performing worse than other areas or in the recent past.
• Concern Performing significantly worse than other areas or in the recent past.
• Neutral Performance neither positive nor negative

The increase in crime reported in the previous quarter has continued into Quarter 3. Anti-social behaviour has also increased slightly. Positive progress continues to be made on our key measures in relation to waste management. South Tyneside had previously had one of the highest rates of residual waste of urban areas in 2019/20 but this has improved significantly along with a reduction in overall waste produced, increased reuse, recycling and composting. Delivering new homes has been a challenge in recent years with the targets in the government Housing delivery test not being achieved since 2018/19 however there has been an improvement in 2023/24. Strategic housing forms an important part of our work towards this ambition. South Tyneside Homes has provided a strong performance on repairs and safety compliance. Complaints relating to tenant satisfaction have increased in recent years, however, this is seen across the sector and not limited to the borough. A new inspection regime is due to begin in April 2024 and work is under way to prepare for the new regulatory duties. The council has recently made the decision to bring the housing management stock supported by South Tyneside Homes back under direct control following an independent ballot of leaseholders and tenants.

• 11997 crimes were reported in South Tyneside up between April and December 2023, an increase of 11% on April to December 2022 (10766 crimes) which greater than the rise in crime across the Northumbria Police area of 5% between April and December 2023. Violence against the person without injury was the most frequently recorded type of crime in the first three quarters of 2023/24 with 3202 offences, 4% higher than the position for April to December 2022/23, force wide there was also a rise of 4%. South Tyneside had a 10% increase in Violence against the person - with injury, whilst force wide there was a 5% increase. There were also notable increases in vehicle crime (+39%) and theft and handling (+36%) when compared to the same time period in the previous year.

• Anti-Social behaviour has shown a small increase of 1% between April and December 2023 as compared to the same time in April to December 2022 from 3592 to 3619 incidents.

• 34297.5 tonnes of household waste were produced and collected in South Tyneside between April and September 2023/24 (latest available), down 7% when compared to 36,833.9 tonnes in April-September 2022/23.

• There has been a reduction in the level of residual waste produced in South Tyneside in recent years. Our latest data of 297.5kg of residual waste was produced per household in the last six months continues this positive trend, representing a 3% decrease from April to September 2022 (305.8kg/household). South Tyneside’s projected 2023/24 total of 595kg would place us just below the most recent North East annual figure of (596.3kg per household) and England position (508.8kg per household). The latest reduction follows on from the 5% reduction to 592.49kg 2022/23. South Tyneside’s rate had previously been one of the highest urban areas nationally in 2019/20, at 703.8 Kg so significant improvement has been made.

  Note: over 95% of this waste is not landfilled but is sent to produce energy at a specialist ‘waste to energy’ power station. Whilst these reductions are very positive, there is still a long way to go to comply with the Government’s Environment Plan which sets out mandatory targets for the local authorities to reduce residual waste by 24% per person by 2028 and reduce overall waste tonnage by 25%.

• 37.2% of household waste was recycled, reused or composted in South Tyneside in the same period which is an improvement on 33.4% in April to September 2022 and is better than the North East position of 31.2% but remains below England (41.7% in 2022/23). This measure does not include South Tyneside remaining residual waste re-used to create energy.

• 20.8% of recycling waste collected was contaminated with other waste. This is slight reduction from 21.3% at the end of June but is higher than March 2023 19.1%

  * Waste data covers the period April to the end of September (the latest available position from the Waste Partnership).

• A further 50 net homes were provided in South Tyneside in Quarter 3, which took the annual net figure of homes delivered since the 1st April to 179. This is already higher than the 145 provided April-December 2022 and the 175 provided in 2022/23 as a whole but is still some way short of the 321 target stipulated by the Housing Delivery Test. The New Local Plan provides an opportunity to allocate sufficient land to meet our housing needs in the future with our current target of 309 units per annum.

South Tyneside Homes

The performance data below relates to properties maintained by South Tyneside Homes:

• The timeliness of emergency repairs has improved on 2022/23 with 99.5% of emergency repairs completed within the targeted timescale between April and December 2023. This represents a 0.8% improvement on the 2022/23 year.

• There has been a 3.7% decrease in the number of repairs carried out correctly first time as compared to 2022/23. 86.2% of repairs carried out were right first time as compared to 89.5% in 2022/23.

• All required landlord gas service and safety inspections have been carried out for all relevant homes up to the end of Quarter 3. The 100% proportion is a continuation of last year’s position.

What are we doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area?

Major Projects Underway

Other things we are doing to strengthen outcomes and performance in this area:

• South Tyneside was shortlisted for the Keep it Local Award 2023 in recognition of its innovative, collaborative approaches to working with local residents, businesses and partners.
• 2000 new electric vehicle charge points are to be installed across the borough, following the establishment of a new partnership between the Council and Connected Kerb, one of the UK’s leading electric vehicle charging infrastructure providers.
• The Environment Agency recognised the high standards of both of the borough’s designated bathing water beaches following water samples being taken, with Sandhaven awarded ‘excellent’ standard and Marsden meeting ‘good’ standard. These latest ratings show the efforts taken following the ocean recovery declaration, Motion for the Ocean, made in January 2023, when the Council made a commitment to take positive action to help enhance, restore and protect the ocean.
• The Council, in leading the LGA Coastal Special Interest Group, has supported the development of a nationwide ‘Pledge for the Coast’ which is raising the profile of the coast and all it has to offer, and helping address challenges ranging from coastal erosion to beach safety, the vulnerability of marine wildlife, and the decline of traditional coastal industries.
• The Tyne and Wear Pension Fund, which is managed by South Tyneside Council, is surpassing its ambitious interim-carbon reduction targets, reaching a 40% reduction from its 2019 baseline two years ahead of its 2025 target.
• The Council has extended a measure that helps to promote responsible pet ownership and address issues like dog fouling. The existing Public Sector Protection Order, which allows authorised officers to issue fixed penalty notices to people who don’t clean up after their dogs or allow them in areas where they aren’t permitted such as children’s play areas, was extended for three years after a four-week consultation which attracted 320 responses, 97% of which were supportive.
• Civic dignitaries, veterans and their families, uniformed organisations, and the wider community joined in with a range of services and parades held across South Tyneside to recognise Armistice Day and Remembrance Day and allow communities to commemorate the sacrifice of armed forces personnel and civilians in times of war.
• Thousands of residents enjoyed the exciting programme of events, lighting and displays held across the borough as part of the 2023 Christmas season. Events includes Christmas light switch-ons in South Shields Market Square, Jarrow Town Hall, and Hebburn Fountains Park, as well as the spectacular Winter Parade, the traditional Christmas Carol Concert at Temple Park Centre, a range of activities at libraries, a Santa’s Grotto at Haven Point, and a new interactive Winter Tales audio trail running in North Marine Park.
• Audiences and magicians from near and far were once more drawn to the borough for the nineteenth annual South Tyneside International Magic Festival, which this year included a range of spectacular magic shows and a professional magician’s convention involving special lectures, workshops and a trade show.

Additional Information

For more information on the activities planned to progress this Ambition, access the ‘Part of Strong Communities’ Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26.

In addition, there are a suite of plans and strategies associated with this ambition area that are accessible online on the Council’s website, including the Sustainable South Tyneside Strategy, the Making Waves South Tyneside Cultural Strategy, the South Tyneside Local Plan, the Integrated Housing Strategy, and the Community Safety Partnership Plan.

The ‘Targeting Resources to Make Things Fairer’ Ambition is different to the other four Ambitions in that it is an underpinning Ambition, relevant to and encompassed within work undertaken in pursuit of each of the other Ambitions. As such, performance, activities, indicators, and projects that concern inequalities and targeted action to make things fairer underpin everything the Council does and are reflected in the body of the report. Within individual services, a huge range of work has taken place over the last quarter that will support improved access and inclusion for different groups of our community:

Performance Update

Reducing inequalities across South Tyneside is very important to us. We believe that all residents should have fair access to opportunities, regardless of their characteristics, background, or circumstances.

When we set out our Vision in November 2022, we specifically identified a cross-cutting ambition of ‘Targeting Support to Make Things Fairer’.

This summer we will be bringing forward a brand-new Equalities, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) Strategy. This Strategy will set out what we stand for as a Council and a place, what inequalities exist across our borough, and what actions we will be taking over the next three years to improve things for the people who experience inequity in our borough.

Our action plan will focus on our three EDIB Objectives:

1. Improve our Data and Understanding
2. Strengthen our Approach to Engagement and Co-production
3. Continue to Embed EDIB into Our Culture, Workforce and Everything We Do

This quarterly performance report provides an overview of performance and progress for each of our five ambition areas. Gathering a clear set of quarterly performance metrics for EDIB is really challenging – hence our first objective around improving our data and understanding. There are significant limitations on the EDIB data available, with few data sets disaggregated by protected characteristics, and those datasets which are more insightful – such as the Census on Index of Multiple Deprivation – updated on an infrequent basis which prevents performance tracking on a quarterly or annual basis.

Working closely with our partners and other local authorities, we will continue to find ways to improve the EDIB data and intelligence we can access to help us make informed decisions. Over the coming months, this will include a new Data Observatory, to bring together key data in one place, as well as a new Annual Equality information Report, which will be published online for all to access.

In the meantime, here’s an overview of some of the data we have access to, highlighting some of the inequalities within our borough:

Geographic Inequalities

Residents living in some areas of our borough face greater inequalities (Source: IMD 2019):

• Areas including Jarrow riverside, Tyne Dock, West Shields, Mill Dam, Brockley Whins, Biddick Hall, West Harton as well as some parts of Horsley Hill, Cleadon Park and Boldon Colliery, all rank among the 10% most deprived areas of England and Wales (Source: IMD 2019).
• According to the 2021 Census, 31% of South Tyneside households are deprived in at least one of four key dimensions (education, employment, health or housing), and 0.2% of households are deprived in all four dimensions. Simonside and West Shields have twice as many households deprived in all four dimensions than the borough average. Interestingly, the proportion of households with at least one dimension of deprivation is highest in Fellgate and Hedworth (37.3%), and other areas with higher-than-average proportions of residents deprived in at least one dimension include Primrose (35.5%), Brockley Whins (35.8%), Simonside (35.6%), West Shields (43.2%), Horsley Hill (36%) and Whitburn and Marsden (36.1%).
• Nationally, deaths under the age of 75 by cancer are twice as high in deprived areas, and four times higher for deaths by heart disease. People who live in more deprived areas are more likely than those in less deprived areas to be inactive, overweight or obese, smoke, and consume alcohol at higher risk levels.
• The wards with the highest percentage of working age residents claiming unemployment benefits are Beacon and Bents, Simonside and Rekendyke, and Biddick and All Saints (around 1 in 12 residents). This compares to Cleadon and East Boldon, where around 1 in 100 residents are claiming unemployment benefits (Source: Stat-Xplore).
• The average male life expectancy (at birth) in South Tyneside is 76.9 years (PHE Life expectancy at birth, 2016-20). However, in Primrose, it’s over 5 and half years less, at 71.4. Other areas with lower-than-average life expectancy for men include Beacon and Bents (74.5%), Simonside and Rekendyke (74.5), Hebburn North (75) and Monkton (75.5).
• The average disability-free life expectancy, the age to which the average person can expect to live in good health before the onset of any health condition that limits their day to day activity, also varies considerably by ward (2018-2, ONS/LG Inform). While the South Tyneside average disability-free male life expectancy in 60.4, in Simonside and Rekendyke it is 54.6, nearly six years earlier than the borough average and almost 10 years earlier than the Cleadon and East Boldon average. (Several other wards have similar low healthy life expectancies for men: in Simonside and Rekendyke it is 54.7, Beacon and Bents 54.8, and Biddick and All Saints 54.9). Similarly for women, although the South Tyneside average disability-free life expectancy in 58.5, in Biddick and All Saints, women can expect to live disability-free until just age 55.3, three years fewer than the borough average and over 15 years fewer than the Cleadon and East Boldon average of 70.6, with the average age for Simonside and Rekendyke women similarly low at 55.9 and Primrose at 56.3.

Characteristic-Based Inequalities

Both local and national data shows that people with particular characteristics are more likely to experience worse pay and employment outcomes, worse health outcomes, higher rates of crime, and additional barriers to community integration.

Gender and Pregnancy / Maternity

• Nationally, the gender pay gap, the gap between average earnings for men and women, is at 14.3, and similarly locally we know that on average women living in South Tyneside earn £3.13 less per hour than their male counterparts (£13.13 vs £16.26).
• Motherhood is a major factor in the gender pay gap, with a 2023 study observing a ‘motherhood pay penalty’ of £4.44 between the average hourly pay of mothers and fathers nationally
• Suicide is 3x more common among men than among women
• Young women between the ages of 16 and 23 are 3x as likely to experience a common mental health issue as men of the same age (26% vs 9%)
• Men are more likely than women to smoke (14.6% of adult men vs 11.2% of adult women are smokers) or to drink at levels considered high risk (28% of men vs 15% of women).

Disability

• Nationally, the gap between median pay for disabled employees and non-disabled employees is 13.8% (2021).
• Locally, the gap in the employment rate between those with a physical or mental long term health condition and the overall employment rate is at 14.2%. The gap is worse for those with a learning disability, at 64.8% locally.
• Disabled people are 4x more likely than non-disabled people to report feeling lonely ‘often or always’ (15.1% vs 3.5%, Community Life Survey 2021/22).
• The average life expectancy for men with a learning disability is 23 years shorter than for men in the general UK population, and for women it is 19 years shorter.
• There were 21 disability motivated hate crime incidents recorded in South Tyneside in Q3 (October-December 2023).
• Disabled adults are more likely than non-disabled adults to experience crime or anti-social behaviour (23.1% disabled adults vs 20.8% non-disabled adults).
• Disabled adults are 3x as likely to experience domestic abuse than non-disabled adults. (ONS – Disability and Crime, UK: 2019).

Ethnicity and Religion

• Just 25% of South Tyneside’s White residents hold qualifications at level 4 (degree equivalent) compared to 36% of Asian residents, 37% of residents from mixed or multiple ethnic groups, and 50% of black residents.
• Nationally, people from Chinese, Indian and White Irish ethnic groups on average earn more than the median UK income, whereas other ethnic groups, including Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Arab people, earn lower than the national average.
• People from Bangladesh, Pakistani and Gypsy or Irish Traveller ethnic backgrounds have much poorer outcomes than average across a range of health indicators nationally. (Kings Fund, ‘The Health of People from Ethnic Minority Groups in England’, 2023).
• There were 50 race motivated and 8 faith-motivated hate crime incidents that took place in South Tyneside within Q3 (October-December 2023).
• People from black or Asian ethnic backgrounds are less likely than white or mixed counterparts to have engaged in the arts in any way over the last year. However, people from an Asian background are more likely than average to have visited a public library in the last year (25% vs 19%). (Participation Survey 2023).

Age

• 10.3% of 18.21 year olds in South Tyneside are claiming benefits (as of December 2023), nearly twice as much as the proportion of overall claimants aged 16-64 (5.6%).
• 25% of people aged 65+ do not have internet access at home, compared with 1% of those aged 35-44 (Ofcom Adult’s Media Use and Attitude Report).

Sexual Orientation and Gender Reassignment

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans workers in the UK earn 16% less on average compared to their non-LGBT+ colleagues, according to 2019 YouGov research.
• 16% of gay, lesbian, bisexual or queer and 38% of transgender respondents to the 2017 National LGBT survey said that they had experienced a negative reaction to their sexual orientation or gender identity when they accessed or tried to access public health services in the preceding 12 months.
• There were 20 homophobic hate crime indicates and 3 transphobic hate crime incidents that took place in South Tyneside in Q3 (October to December 2023).

See the upcoming 2024 South Tyneside Equalities Information Report (due for publication in Summer 2024) and the ‘Our South Tyneside’ Borough Profile for additional information on the access and outcome gaps experienced by people with different protected characteristics both locally and nationally.

What are we doing to address inequalities and make things fairer?

As mentioned above, we will be bringing forward a new Equalities, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy this summer to focus our collective attention and resource on the actions that will help make a significant difference on this important agenda.

Alongside this, over the last quarter services have continued to press ahead with a range of initiatives that will support improved access and inclusion for our residents:

• South Tyneside has pledged its commitment to eliminate racial discrimination by signing an Anti-Racism Charter and pledging to make improvements over the coming years to champion a racially diverse workforce, challenge racism, and remove barriers for racially diverse staff to recruitment, promotions, training and development opportunities and more.
• The Council has become the first Council in the North East to achieve Level One (Active) in the Care Confident Employers benchmarking scheme, after work to recognise, support, recruit and retain employees who have caring responsibilities.
• Over 100 professionals attended the South Tyneside Hate Crime Conference in October to listen to representatives from Show Racism the Red Card, Northumbria Police, Youth Voice Counts share how Hate Crime can affect victims and share best practice around raising awareness and tackling crime that is motivated by prejudice about a person’s disability, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or transgender identity.
• The South Tyneside Adult Carer Service held a drop-in information event on Carer’s Rights Day, on 23rd November, partnering with other local partners in offering a range of support and advice, alongside relaxation activities, to people across South Tyneside who look after a family member or friend because of an illness, disability, mental health condition or substance use.
• The Council marked ‘White Ribbon Day’ on 25th November by inviting residents to collect and wear a white ribbon to raise awareness of male violence against women and girls. The Council is a White Ribbon accredited organisation and various employees are signed up as White Ribbon Ambassadors and Champions to challenge sexist attitudes and behaviour wherever they see it.
• Boxes of free sanitary products have been rolled out across Council-owned leisure centres as part of a period dignity campaign which hopes to support women and girls from low-income households who might otherwise miss out on leisure, education and other activities due to facing challenges in accessing and affording essential period products.

Additional Information

The new 'Our South Tyneside' report - has been published on the Council's website and made available to Elected Members, council employees and wider stakeholders, drawing together the latest data and intelligence on the local population, including demographics, health, independence, children and families, and the economy.

View the latest 'Targeting Support to Make Things Fairer' Action Plan, which is part of the South Tyneside Council Strategy 2023-26 for more information on the activities planned to progress this Ambition.

As a Council, we are committed to listening to and working hand in hand with residents and service-users as we strive to bring forward improvements in line with our Ambitions.

In the last quarter, we have undertaken a wide range of engagement and research activities to help ensure that our efforts are aligned to local needs and preferences:

• Littlehaven Bathing Water Designation Consultation (August to September) – Swimmers, dog walkers and beach users were asked about their views over the summer on a proposed application for Littlehaven to be added to the list of nationally designated bathing waters, a designation that would mean water quality was regularly tested, monitored and rated to help provide reassurance for those choosing to go into the water for swimming or water sports purposes.
• Anti-Poverty Summit (September) – An Anti-Poverty Summit took place at South Shields Town Hall, convening a wide range of interested partners to reflect on cost-of-living interventions and shape longer-term solutions to tacking poverty in South Tyneside.
• Boundary Commission England Ward Boundary Consultation (September to December) – The Council encouraged residents to share their thoughts on draft recommendations published by the Local Government Boundary Commission as part of an electoral review of South Tyneside looking at ward boundaries and the number of electors represented by each councillor which gathered initial resident views May, June and July 2023.
• Our Hebburn Conversation (November to January) – The Council carried out a 3-month consultation asking questions about what the future might look like for Hebburn Town Centre, Riverside Park and Hebburn surroundings.
• Autumn Pledge Networking Event (November)– Businesses and organisations signed up to the South Tyneside Pledge were invited to come together in business centre One Trinity Green in November to network, learn from each other, and discuss topics including local collaboration and the value of using local suppliers.
• Creative Sector Business and IP Centre Brunch (October) – South Tyneside-based creatives were invited to join in with a brunch at the Custom’s House designed to support organisations to grow and diversity their business activity and explore new opportunities for selling products and services.
• Hebburn Public Art Consultation (December) – The Cultural Spring was commissioned by the Council to meet with Hebburn residents and local groups in December to gather their views about new public artwork in Hebburn.
• Survey of Unpaid Adult Carers (January) – Adults in South Tyneside who look after a partner, family member or friend were encouraged to share their views and help shape support for carers in the future by taking part in a 15-minute online survey that covered issues such as health and wellbeing, money and work, social life, ‘me-time’ and access to services.
• Blue Plaque Nominations (Ongoing) – Nominations for are now open until 31 August 2024 for the South Tyneside Commemorative Plaque Scheme. Residents are asked to nominate individuals with strong links to and has made a significant contribution to the legacy of South Tyneside or buildings which are prominent in the history and development of the borough to help inform the installation of future commemorative plaques around South Tyneside.
• Local Plan Consultation (January to March) – South Tyneside published its ‘Draft 19 Local Plan’, a framework for where new homes, businesses and leisure facilities will be built up until 2040, and has held a comprehensive consultation, including a range of information sessions and an online survey, to get residents views on the plan.
• Housing Review (January to March) – A consultation and ballot of Council housing tenants and leaseholders has taken place to get views on proposals to see the management of South Tyneside Council’s housing stock, previously delivered by South Tyneside Homes, to be brought back ‘in house’, following an independent review in 2023.
• Public Spaces Protection Orders Consultation (February to April) – Local people have been encouraged to give their views on plans for a three-year extension of existing local Public Spaces Protection Orders, which give the Council and police additional powers and greater flexibility to tackle anti-social behaviour problems including the use of motorbikes of public land and drinking alcohol and taking psychoactive substances in a public place.

Additional publicly available data can be found here:

• The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes a range of public health range and profiles, including some at local authority level, which can be explored using the 'Fingertips' tool.
• The Office for National Statistic's 'NOMIS' service publishes a range of official statistics related to population, society, and the labour market at national, regional and local levels, including data from current and previous censuses. View the latest Labour Market Profile for South Tyneside.
• The Local Authority Interactive Tool presents information on topics ranging from children looked after by local authorities, to pupil attainment, Ofsted judgements, youth justice statistics and more, in the form of interactive tables and charts with different local authorities rank and positions.
• The Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework contains a range of measures of how well care and services in different local authorities do on a range of quality of life measures.
• LG Inform is the local area benchmarking tool from the Local Government Association

Q4 2023-24 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

July 2024 (exact date tbc)

Q1 2024-25 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

October 2024 (exact date tbc)

Annual Report 2024 and Q2 2024-25 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

January 2025 (exact date tbc)

Care Leaver

The Care Leavers’ Association has a simple definition of a care leaver – any adult who has spent time in care. The legal definition of a care leaver comes from The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 which states that a Care Leaver is someone who has been in the care of the Local Authority for a period of 13 weeks or more spanning their 16th birthday.

Care Leavers EET

This indicator is the percentage of 19 to 21 year-old care leavers in education, training or employment. It covers young people whose 19th, 20th or 21st birthday falls between 1 April and 31 March (each given year) who were previously looked after for least 13 weeks after their 14th birthday, including some time after their 16th birthday, are considered. The national measure is based on the situation around the young person birthday.

Child in Need

Under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, Local Authorities have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area if they are in need. A child is in need when they are disabled, or they are unlikely to achieve a reasonable standard of health or development or if a child’s health or development is likely to be significantly impaired if services are not offered to him or her.

Child Protection

The safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm, responding to allegations or suspicions of abuse and providing support and services to protect children.

Child Protection Plan

For all those children who have been identified at a Child Protection Conference as being at a continuing risk of significant harm, a Child Protection Plan will be created. This is a plan setting out what steps and provisions are needed to safeguard a child’s welfare and minimize all risks of harm to a child.

Children Cared For

Cared for children are children in the care of the local authority (also known as a child in care, looked after child or child looked after). They might be living: with foster parents; at home with their parents under the supervision of social services; in residential children’s homes; other residential settings like schools or secure units; or in 16+ provision such as supported lodgings or supported accommodation. They might have been placed in care voluntarily by parents struggling to cope.

Children's Residential Homes

A type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home.

Claimant rate

Claimant Count measures the number of unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits.

Commissioned service

Care, support or supervision that has been arranged and paid for on a client’s behalf by a public authority such as: In the case of personal care, a local authority adult social care department.

Community shops

Shops that trade as businesses, but they trade primarily for community benefit. An example of this could be Lucie’s Laundry, a launderette for anyone in the community to use free of charge.

CQC

Care Quality Commission. CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. CQC make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve. They monitor, inspect, and regulate services and publish what we find. Where we find poor care, we will use our powers to act.

Economically Active

Those aged 16 and over who are either in employment or unemployed. Economically inactive people are those who are neither employed nor unemployed; they are not in paid work, but they are also not looking for a job or available to start work (this includes people who are retired, looking after family or sick/disabled)

Education Health and Care Plan / EHCP

An education, health and care (EHC) plan is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.

Employment rate

The employment rate is the percentage of the population who are of working age (16- 64) with a job. Employed people are those who have worked in gainful employment for at least one hour in the previous week. This does not include those who are economically inactive.

Enterprise Zones

Geographically defined areas, hosted by Local Enterprise Partnerships in which commercial and industrial businesses can receive incentives to set up or expand. Businesses locating to an Enterprise Zone can receive business tax of up to 100% over a five-year period.

Fuel poor

Relates to households that must spend a high proportion of their household income to keep their home at a reasonable temperature. Fuel poverty is affected by three key factors: a household’s income, their fuel costs, and their energy consumption (which in turn is affected by the energy efficiency of the dwelling).

Grades 9-4

GCSE Grades are now numbered with 9 being the highest grade. Grade 4 or above is the equivalent of a C, a strong C is a grade 5.

Harder-to-house

Residents whose special needs and multiple risk factors make them complicated to serve and who are involved in an organized supportive services program(s).

Homeless presentations

Those who have no home or permanent place of residence.

Legacy Benefits

A legacy benefit is a benefit which is being replaced by Universal Credit. There are six legacy benefits: income-based jobseekers’ allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, income support, housing benefit, child tax credit and working tax credit.

Liaison role

A Liaison facilitates communication between two or more parties to help their organisation reach a beneficial decision for their needs.

Long-term residential placement

Means a placement in a where there is an intention that the placement shall become the Resident's permanent residence.

Out of work benefits

Employment and Support Allowance and other incapacity benefits, and Income Support and Pension Credit.

Reablement facilities

Reablement is an intensive short service, which is offered to those recovering from an illness or injury or after discharge from hospital. The aim is to help recover some or all of their independence.

Referral

The referring of concerns to local authority children's social care services, where the referrer believes or suspects that a child may be a Child in Need, including that he or she may be suffering, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm. The referral should be made in accordance with the agreed local safeguarding procedures.

Residential Care

Residential care refers to long-term care given to people who stay in a residential setting rather than in their own home or family home. In Adult Social Care this includes residential care homes and nursing homes.

Rough sleepers

People sleeping rough are defined as those sleeping or about to bed down in open air locations and other places including tents and makeshift shelters. The snapshot does not include people in hostels or shelters, sofa surfers or those in recreational or organised protest, squatter or traveller campsites.

Short term residential care

A person moves into a residential or nursing home temporarily.

Special Free School

A school which is a free to attend and is specially organised to make special educational provision for pupils with SEN. EHCP’s replaced Statements for children and young people with additional needs under the Children and Families Act 2014.

The National Child Measurement Programme

A nationally mandated public health programme. It provides the data for the child excess weight indicators in the Public Health Outcomes Framework and is part of the government’s approach to tackling child obesity.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking-child

A child who is under 18 years, does not have any parent or responsible older adult to look after them, and is making a claim for asylum can be described as an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child (UASC). The local authority will be responsible for their care and providing them with a home if the child’s age is accepted as being under 18.

Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate is the percentage of the population who are of working age (16- 64) without a job. This does not include those who are economically inactive.