Performance Update - Quarter 1 / End June 2024

This quarterly report, covering the period up to June 2024, 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 Quarterly 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
• 48.5% 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. (2021 Census)
• 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 natural 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 5083 incidents reported in 2023/24.

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%).
• 20.5% 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.
• 6.5m 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

• 31% of South Tyneside's working age population was economically inactive in the 12 months to March 2024, the second highest rate in the North East behind Middlesbrough (32.4%). The figures for the region and for England during the same period were 25.4% and 21.2% respectively.
• Median gross weekly pay in South Tyneside was £600 in 2023, below North East (£608.1), England-wide (£692) and UK-wide levels (£690).
• 32.8% of school children are eligible for Free Schools Meals compared to 31.5% regionally and 25.5% nationally.
• 5.3% of the working age population were claiming out of work benefits as of June 2024, compared to 4.1% regionally and nationally.
• 10.5% of people aged 18-21 were claiming unemployment benefits in June 2024, compared to 6.1% regionally and 5.3% nationally.

We have analysed the latest key data to provide 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 has fallen and interest rates have recently been cut, rates are still relatively high, meaning mortgage, loan and credit repayments will continue to put pressure on household finances. In addition, the impact of Ofgem decisions, central Government policy and funding decisions are as yet unknown, such as the end of Household Support Fund in September 2024 (a key source of funding over the past three years), the upcoming rise in the energy price cap and the decision to limit Winter Fuel Allowance to pensioners on Pension Credit.

Quarterly data from the Annual Population Survey shows that South Tyneside’s employment rate has been around 65% for two successive periods, while nearly a third of residents aged 16-64 are economically inactive (31%, around 28,000 people in the 12 months to March 2024). Long term sickness continues to be the leading cause of inactivity in South Tyneside, though there are some signs the proportion is falling - now 35.3%, compared with 40.9% 2 periods ago.

• South Tyneside’s unemployment benefit claimant rate was 5.3% at the end of June 2024. There were 4830 individual claimants and our unemployment benefit rate is in line with March 2024. The rate is lower than previous years with the figures for March 2023 and March 2022 at 5.8% and 6.5% respectively. Our claimant rate is higher than both the North East and England (both 4.1%). South Tyneside has the highest rate in the Northeast Combined Authority area and across the 12 authorities in the North East only Middlesborugh is higher (6.1%).

  The ward with the highest proportion of claimants was Beacon and Bents (9.2%) whilst the lowest percentage was 1.2% in Cleadon and East Boldon.

  Due to the roll out of Universal Credit this measure is still under development by Department for Work and Pensions. This means that any changes should be interpreted with caution and alongside other indicators.

• 10.5% of 18-21 year olds were claiming benefits in June 2024. This figure has decreased by 0.4% points from last quarter but remains noticeably above the North East (6.1%) and England (5.3%).

• 20977 people were claiming Universal Credit in June 2024. This is a 4.1% increase on March 2024 (19606). 35% of claimants were in employment, a position unchanged from year end 2023/24.

• At the end of Quarter 2 (the most recently available data) 16.2% of South Tyneside residents over 65 were in receipt of pension credits.

  This is in line with March 2023 but there has been a steady decrease in the measure in recent years from 19.3% in 2019/20 and 22.1% in 2017/18. Despite the decrease our position is above that of the North East (13.8%) and England (10.5%).

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.

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• South Tyneside’s Cost of Living response work with local partners, including the hosting of poverty multi-agency summits and the development of a network of 70+ Welcoming Places, has led to the Council being shortlisted in the ‘Best Community and Neighbourhood Initiative’ category in the 2024 APSE Service Awards.
• The South Tyneside Pledge was identified as a finalist in the ‘Public / Private Partnership’ category of the Local Government Chronicle Awards 2024, in recognition of the initiative’s success in bringing together over 28+ local partners to recruit from, spend in and support local communities. The scheme is a fantastic example of organisations working together to help local residents access jobs and to help keep money within the local economy.
• A new community shop promoting food security by offering healthy food at discount prices has been opened in South Shields by Hospitality and Hope, supported with funding from South Tyneside’s £8.8m UK Shared Prosperity Funding share. The South Shields site is the third community shop that has been delivered over recent years, joining the similar stores at Horsley Hill and Tyne Dock, as well as the Community Food Bus, run by Key Project and supported by the Council, which brings affordable food to people across the borough.
• The Council has continued with a number of campaigns to encourage awareness and take-up of various benefits that residents may not be aware that they are eligible for. This has included a Carer Allowance campaign as well as ongoing work to raise awareness of a pension credit. Family Hubs promote Healthy Start vouchers and the Council signposts Northumbria Water and other discounts. Planning is additionally underway around a free school meal awareness campaign.
• Winter readiness preparations are once again ramping up ahead of Winter 2024, with Winter Readiness cards and signposting information being shared with frontline officers and partners on winter topics such as fuel poverty, healthy homes, vaccinations, money and debt, and more. Engagement is also underway with the area’s 70+ Welcoming Places to celebrate what they did last year to give people a warm space for conversation and activities, provide additional training and promotion, and look at what more can be done to target advice and support to those in greatest need this year.

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 and the Anti-Poverty 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 a reducing trend in demand for services in recent months. South Tyneside has higher rates of referrals in Children’s Social Care, Children in Need and Child Protection plans than England and similar Statistical Neighbour areas. The rate of Cared for Children is lower than the region and similar areas while still well above the national average. Since year end 2023/24 there has been a decrease in our overall number of Children in Need and as well as a reduction for those on a Child Protection Plans but the complexity of cases is rising, and our rate of new Child Protection Plans remains above the region. Positively over the last 3 months the level of referrals and Children Cared For have reduced over the same period.

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

  1843 new referrals were started in Children’s Social Care between July 1st 2023 and June 30th 2024. The rate of referrals (620.6 per 10,000 0-17 year olds) has fallen by 10.3% as compared to March 2024 (692.3). South Tyneside’s rate of referrals remains higher than the most recent positions for the North East (579.9), and England 2022/23 (544.5) but lower than our Statistical Neighbours (649.5).

  * 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 1368 Children in Need* in South Tyneside at the end of June 2024. The rate of Children in Need (460.6 per 10,000) has reduced by 9.3% as compared to 2023/24 (507.3), and is below our statistical neighbours (465.7), but higher than the North East (444.7) and England (342.7).

  * 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

  213 children had a Child Protection Plan at the end of June 2024. The rate (71.7) is down by 5.6% on March 2024 (78.1, 232 children). South Tyneside are above the national rate and our statistical neighbours (43.2 and 63.1 respectively) but are below the latest regional position of 72.6.

• Child Protection Plan Starts

  298 children became subject to a Child Protection Plan between July 2023 and June 2024 (100.3 per 10,000). The rate of Child Protection Plan starts has decreased by 4.9% compared to 2023/24 (105.4, 313 children). South Tyneside’s position is well above our statistical neighbours (87.0), the North East (92.2) and England (54).

• % Repeat Change Protection Plans

  28.5% of Child Protection Plans starting in the last 12 months were a repeat plan, slightly higher than in 2023/24 (26.2%). Between July 2023 and June 2024, 89 children were subject to a plan for at least the second time. The level of repeat plans is down 2.8% points from 32.3% in 2022/23. South Tyneside are above the North East (25.0%), statistical neighbours (21.4%) and England (23.3%).

  14% of Child Protection Plans were within 2 years of the child’s last protection plan in the 12 months between July 2023 and June 2024. Whilst an increase on 2023/24 (11%), this is a reduction on 2022/23 (-1.4% points from 15.4%). Our position is above the latest North East position of 10.8%.

• Children Cared For

  At the end of June 2024 there were 299 Children Cared For. The rate, 100.7 per 10,000 children, is down 3.8% on March 2024 (103.4) and 4.4% lower than March 2023 (105.4) and continues to be noticeably lower than across our statistical neighbours (128.1) and the North East (117.8) but is still far higher than in England (71).

  Of the 299 children, 9 were Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children (UASC). This is a decrease of a third as compared to year end 2023/24 when the figure stood at 12. The relatively higher numbers of UASC in recent years is a result of the Council’s participation in the National Transfer Scheme.

• Children Becoming Cared For

  133 Children became Cared For between July 2023 and June 2024. The rate (44.7 per 10,000) is in line with 2023/24 and 2022/23 (both 44.8). South Tyneside’s rate is below to our statistical neighbours (46) but above the North East (42) and England (26).

• Adoptions

  During the period July 2023 to June 2024, 13% of children who ceased to be Cared For did so as a result of being adopted (18 out of 133 children). This proportion is lower than the previous two years (14.6% and 15.7%). South Tyneside remain above the most recently reported national position (12%) but slightly lower than the North East region (13.6%).

• EHCP Plans

  At the end of March 2024, 1756 children and young people had an Education, Health and Care Plan to support their more complex special needs. This figure includes young people above school age, up to 25 years old. The figure is up 0.9% as compared to March 2024 (1739) and up 2.7% when compared to June 2023 (1709).

Major Projects and Programmes Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• Since launching in June 2023, South Tyneside’s network of 12 Family Hubs has seen 80,462 total attendances, with 5,385 children accessing support along with their parents/carers.
• A second positive visit by Ofsted Inspectors in March and a third visit in July have recognised ongoing improvements made in Children’s Services. Inspectors visiting in March, who were looking particularly at the ‘front door’, where a concern about a child is initially raised by a professional or member of the public, noted positive changes to the culture of the service, and an improvement in collaboration with partner agencies, and also noted a range of wider service improvements, including continuing improvements to quality assurance, an effective out-ofhours service, and improved timeliness of the assessment of children’s needs.
• Monitoring visit inspectors in March also highlighted the improvement in the Council’s response to children exposed to domestic abuse. The response now sits within the public health team who have access to a range of services from the Restart domestic abuse service, including perpetrator programmes and support for women and children.
• Inspectors visiting in July, who were reviewing progress on recording of decision making, sufficiency of regulated homes and the scrutiny of permanent places, similarly observed a cumulative improvement in practice, including in the development of a transparent and open culture, in the oversight of children in unregistered homes, in a more focused approach to corporate parenting, and in managerial oversight at all levels of the service.
• South Tyneside has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Health and Wellbeing Initiative including Social Care’ category of the 2024 APSE Service Awards for pioneering work on the innovative ‘Virtual Memory Box’, a digital tool which supports children and young people in care and their families and carers to digitally capture stories, photos, milestones and special occasions and make sure that they remain accessible to the child through different placements and into adulthood.
• South Tyneside school chefs have received recognition in several National Local Authority Catering competitions this year. Ellen Crookes, who works at Mortimer Community College, was shortlisted in the 2024 School Chef of the Year Awards for the North East and Scotland, while Joanne Murray and Cheryl Buie, who work in the kitchen at Jarrow School, received awards for their dishes at the National Local Authority Category Association Finishing Touches competition.
• Dads, dads-to-be and male carers across South Tyneside can now access parenthood tips and information on local support groups and service providers through the new digital ‘DadPad’ app thanks to a partnership between South Tyneside’s Family Hubs and DadPad UK. In supporting dads to develop the confidence and practical skills needed to meet their babies’ physical and emotional needs, it is hoped the resource will contribute to children’s positive long-term social, health and educational outcomes.

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.

Our Living Better Lives Strategy, produced together with local partners, people working in social care, and local people who draw on care and support aims to ensure people are able to live as independently as is possible in their own home for as long as possible. It is positive that there has been a reduction in older people admitted to long-term residential care over the last 12 months and our admission rate is now below the regional average.

The number of people living in residential care has also reduced. The Care Quality Commission ratings of the providers used by the Council remain overwhelmingly ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.

• Number of people with Commissioned Services

  2864 people were receiving a Commissioned Service in Adults Social Care part or fully funded by the council at the of June 2024, up 1.1% on March 2024 (2833 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 that is necessary towards the funding of the service. This reflects the increasing demand for Adult Social Care Support.

• Admissions of people aged 65+ to residential care

  39 people aged over 65 were admitted to residential or nursing care between April 2024 and June 2024 at a rate of 505 per 100,000. This is -31.8% lower than the 2023/24 year end rate of 741.3. It is also 36 people lower (-60%) than April to June 2022/23 (75; 971.1 per 1000,000).

  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 after their admission to hospital.

  Social work teams based in the hospital are supporting this reduction in admissions to care for people being discharged as they are able to support decision making leading to more people being returned home rather than into care. The aim is that the continued development of Borrowdale House and Haven Court for reablement will further aid this improvement.

  For those people who are unable to return home 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.

• Admissions of people aged 18-64 to residential care

  3 individuals aged 18-64 were admitted to residential or nursing care to meet their long-term support needs between April 2024 and June 2024. The rate of admissions, 13.7 per 100,000 population, is 14.1% down on the 2023/24 year end rate of 16.0. Our 18-64 admissions rate is below the most recent regional (15.6) and national (14.6) rates.

• People in long-term residential placements

  789 people were living in Local Authority funded Long Term Residential/Nursing Placements at the end of June 2024: in line with the position at the end of 2023/24 but 2.7% lower than the June 2023 position of 811, and 2.2% down on the end of 2022/23 (807). However, this indicator remains significantly higher than in 2020/21 year end (22% higher / 647 LA Funded).

• People in short-term residential placements

  120 people were in short-term residential placements funded by Adult Social Care at the end of June 2024. This is 8.1% higher than the end of 2023/24 position (111).

  * 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.

• Provider Ratings

  96.5% 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, which is in line with the end of March/ Quarter 4 2023/24 One residential care provider is rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ and one is rated as ‘Inadequate’. Of the 60 total providers, 4 are yet to be inspected at this time.

Major Projects and Programmes Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• 180 people have already taken up training ranging from digital skills courses to medicines competency training with the South Tyneside Care Academy since it was first launched. In addition, the Care Academy team have attended events such as jobs fairs and spoken about careers opportunities in the care sector with 90 economically inactive residents and have also given a further 39 people guidance and advice about careers in care.
• Adult Social Care workers from across South Tyneside came together at Wellbeing Event in June hosted by the South Tyneside Care Academy and involving health and wellbeing workshops, guest speakers and more.

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

South Tyneside’s performance on key public health measures has been lower than the England wide average for a number of years. Adult and childhood obesity is more prevalent across South Tyneside than across the North East and England. An increasing number of adults in treatments for alcohol, and other substances has been a steady trend in recent years. Smoking, including mothers who smoke at the time of delivery, is higher than the nationally and regionally reported figures, however latest figures show a significant decrease bringing South Tyneside statistically similar to the North East. Positively, we have seen a continuous increase in the numbers of members for our leisure centres with a large proportion of these being concessionary members. We are also seeing positive improvements in the prevalence of breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks, although we remain below the North East and England we are starting to close the gap.

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, on topics ranging from frailty and dementia to births and fertility, can be found in the online South Tyneside Joint Strategic Needs and Assets Assessment.

• Domestic Abuse Incidents

  There were 1241 reported domestic abuse incidents across the borough in Quarter 1 2024/25. The quarter’s rate* of domestic abuse, 328.5 incidents per 10,000 population, is 2.3% lower than 2023/24 (336.3, 5083 incidents) but remains the highest in the area covered by Northumbria Police Force. The force average rate for Quarter 1 was 279.1 by comparison. 47.5% of incidents in South Tyneside between March and June involved children as compared to 48.8% in 2023/24. Across the force area 42.5% of incidents involved children, South Tyneside had the highest proportion of incidents in Quarter 1 involving children in the force 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.

• Mothers smoking at time of delivery

  12.7% of mothers were smoking at the time of delivery per the latest available position (Quarter 4 / March 2023/24). This figure is 3% points higher than Q3 2023/24 (9.7%) but in line with Quarter 2 2023/24 (12.6%). The latest available position for South Tyneside is higher than the North East (8.9%) and England (6.9%).

• Leisure centre usage

  10899 members were registered at leisure centres across South Tyneside as of June 2024. This number has continued to rise in recent months and is the highest figure recorded. There are 4% more members than 2023/24 (10475) and 31.1% more than 2022/23 (8307). 41% of members are concessionary, down 1% point on year end 2023/24.

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• South Tyneside’s Leisure Services have been shortlisted for ‘Best Sports, Culture and Leisure Team’ in the 2024 APSE Service Awards, in recognition of their array of outstanding work in recent years including on broadening accessibility, streamlining customer service, and supporting health and wellbeing.
• 18 workplaces and 19 schools were handed out awards at this year’s South Tyneside Better Health at Work celebration event. Over the six years it has been in place, the scheme has supported over 400 settings to support employee and pupil health and fitness.
• South Tyneside’s Young Health Ambassadors (STYHA), a group of young people aged 14-18 with a passion for health and wellbeing, have launched a new Mental Health awareness campaign, kicked off at an event in June which brought secondary schools and special schools together to hear about the mental health services available to them. As part of the campaign, the Young Health Ambassadors have developed a website with tips and advice on mental health topics and created a podcast, ‘What the Health are you Talking About!?’, interviewing professionals from services across the borough to showcase what they do and what young people can expect from them.

Homelessness

Performance Update

Homelessness on South Tyneside continues to be a pressing concern. Families and individuals presenting to the council as being at risk of homelessness has increased in recent years with the main reasons for losing accommodation are loss of private tenancy, families or friends no longer able to accommodate, relationship breakdown and domestic abuse. There has been a substantial reduction in rough sleepers over the previous two quarters but a continued rise in the number who are new to the street. These issues are by no means limited to South Tyneside and the same concerns are observed across the North East and England. 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.

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

  770 people presented as being at risk of homelessness in Quarter 1. Projecting this figure over 12 months would equate to 3080, in line with the previous year (3092 presentations). Presentations are up 7% on the same quarter last year and up 54% when compared to 2019/20.

• Rough Sleeping

  11 rough sleepers were recorded for June 2024. This is down by 1 on March 2024 and down by 3 on December 2023. The latest position is also down by 7 on June 2023 (18). 100% of rough sleepers in June 2024 were new to the street as compared to 58% reported in March 2024.

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.

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.

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• Joint work between housing and children’s social care around responding to 16- and 17-year-olds presenting as homeless was highlighted and recognised as effective and well-coordinated by inspectors undertaking a recent monitoring visit of Children’s Services.
• A new Operations manager for Homelessness and Allocations is now in post and working to address some of the recommendations identified in the recent self-assessment of homelessness services and the wider system.
• 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 also been worked through and a dedicated officer has been recruited to work on addressing challenges with this type of housing.
• Work has started on the development of a new Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy has also begun, with consultation with partners planned for the coming year.
• Additional funding has been secured to expand the Council’s rough sleeping outreach offer and has supported the purchase of an additional temporary single-person move-on accommodation unit. This is in 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.
• 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.
• Ahead of the development of a comprehensive Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy next year, a Rough Sleeper Statement has been published setting out detail of work planned over the next 12 months by the Council and partners to address and prevent homelessness.

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 is available.

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 lagged behind the rest of England in relation to employment measures.

The factors behind this are well known, deep rooted and unfortunately common across the North East where lower levels of employment have 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 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’ postpandemic to the same degree as some other places and high economic inactivity, largely driven by long-term sickness, remains a key challenge.

To address this, a number of UK Shared Prosperity Fund projects aimed at supporting people to move closer to the labour market and reduce inactivity are now live and impact will be monitored throughout. The projects range from intensive support programmes to the provision of pre-employment support and work to address barriers to engagement.

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 and it is positive that unemployment has reduced and remains at a recent historic low.

A clear majority of South Tyneside’s Primary, Secondary and Special schools are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted and the proportion of pupils attending schools that are Good or Outstanding is in line with or higher than in the region and nationally across all types of school.

Quarter 1 has seen positive decreases in the proportion of young people who were not in education, employment or training. Care Leavers from the borough are more commonly in education, employment or training opportunities when compared to our region and the country although this measure has fallen in the last 3 months.

• Employment

  In the 12 months to March 2024 (latest data) South Tyneside’s employment rate was 65.1%*. This is a marginal rise on the previous position of 65% at December 2023. The borough’s latest position is below the region (72.8%) and England (76.0%) for the same period. South Tyneside’s employment rate is the second lowest in the region after Middlesbrough.

  * 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 +/- 4.1% as compared with +/- 1.3% in the North East and +/- 0.4% 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

  The unemployment rate was 5.6% for the 12 months to March 2024, a static position as compared to December 2023 and remains level with our lowest rate in 19 years. Despite this our rate is above the rate for the North East (3.9%) and above the rate for England (3.7%). Both the region and England have seen increases in the past quarter of 0.5% points and 0.2% points respectively.

• Economic Inactivity

  31%* of South Tyneside’s 16-64 population were reported to be economically inactive in the 12 months from April 2023 to March 2024 (28,000 individuals). This is an increase of 2.5% points from the 12 months to December 2023. Long term sickness (32.5% of cases) continues to be the most common cause of economic activity. Most people who are economically inactive indicate they do not want a job (81.2%). Economic inactivity in South Tyneside is markedly higher than the North East (25.4%) and England (21.2%).

  *Confidence Interval of 4%

• Young People NEET

  5.6% of 16-17 year olds were not in employment, education or training (NEET) at the end of June 2024. This is a reduction of 0.8% points as compared to year end 2023/24. Our rate is lower than our statistical neighbours (7%) and the region (6.2%) but remains above England (5.3%).

• Care Leavers EET

  73.4% of South Tyneside’s 19-21 year old care leavers were in education, employment or training (EET) at the end of Quarter 4. This position is up from 72.5% in December and a 21% increase on year end 2022/23 (up 12.8 % points from 60.6%). South Tyneside’s position is above the latest for the North East (54.8% at December 2023) and England (56% at March 2023).

• Primary Schools

  95% of primary school pupils in South Tyneside* were attending a school rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ by Ofsted at the end of June 2024. This position is down from 98% at the end of March. Our position is above the national position (93%) and in line with the North East (95.3%).

  *Per most recent ratings for 44 primary schools. Ashley Academy has recently changed status and is now part of Wise Academies and has not been inspected since this change.

• Secondary Schools

  90.1% of our secondary school pupils were attending a school rated by Ofsted as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ at the end of Quarter 1 2024/25. Our ratings position has dropped 0.7% points on Quarter 4 when 90.8% of secondary school pupils were attending a school rated ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’. Our ratings position for secondary schools is well above the North East (81.8%) and England (86.1%).

• Special Schools

  100% of South Tyneside’s four Special schools are rated ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ unchanged since last July. South Tyneside compares positively to the region (87%) and the national position (89%).

Major Projects and Programmes Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• The South Tyneside Works Quality Assurance Team have been named as finalists in the ‘Quality Collaboration of the Year’ category at the 2024 Quality Professional Awards for Further Education and Employability. The shortlisting recognises South Tyneside Works’ collaborative work with teams in neighbouring Durham County Council, Gateshead Council and Sunderland City Council, which has supported continuous review and improvement of collective quality assurance arrangements, resulting in a better service for residents needing employment support.
• South Tyneside Works, the Council’s Further Education and Skills Service, which supports over 3000 adult learners a year, has retained it’s ‘Good’ Ofsted rating, with inspectors noting that learners ‘value and enjoy learning new life skills’ throughout their training.
• A new business growth grant scheme, funded through the Council’s share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, has been launched to support inward investment and the growth of companies in South Tyneside. Grants of between £20,000 and £50,000 are available to support capital funding for activity such as the development of land for employment use, the introduction of new technologies or processes, or launching products and services to new markets.

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

Crime in South Tyneside has remained at the same rate across Quarter 1 following increases in previous quarters. South Tyneside’s rate of crime is still above the average in the Northumbria Police Force Area. Anti-social behaviour, and youth related incidents of anti-social behaviour in particular, have seen decreases in Quarter 1.

Waste and recycling data is delayed compared to other sources of data used in this report because it is a complex measure. Consequently, our figures do not reflect recent industrial action, the majority of which occurred during Quarters 3 and 4. We expect to see this impact on our Quarter 1 figures once available.

The net number of new homes provided is noticeably down on the same point last year with 13 net new homes in Quarter 1. South Tyneside Council has a lower proportion of vacant council owned properties than both neighbouring authorities in the Tyne and Wear region and the average for England. Quarter 1 data for compliance and repairs from South Tyneside Homes was once again indicative of strong performance.

• 3948 crimes were reported in South Tyneside across the Quarter 1 2024/25 reporting period. This is a decrease of 7% compared to Quarter 1 last year (4224 crimes). The rate of crime (104 per 1,000 people) for Quarter 1 2024/25 has remained the same as 2023/24 year end. Across the Northumbria Police Force Area, the rate of crime in South Tyneside increased slightly in the same period from 98 to 99 per 1000 population. Violence against the person without injury was the most common crime in South Tyneside 1067 offences (28 per 1000 population) during Quarter 1, a decrease of 4% on Quarter 1 last year (1113 offences). Incidences of violence against the person with injury (-12%), vehicle crime (-33%), theft and handling (-5%) all decreased during Quarter 1. Burglary increased by 20%, in line with a force wide increase of 19%.

• Anti-Social Behaviour incidents have decreased by 4% on the previous year. There were 1163 ASB incidents between April and June 2024 as compared to 1207 in Quarter 1 2022/23. 74.8% of incidents related to adults, down 1.1% points on Quarter 1 2023/24. There was also a more pronounced decrease in the number of youth related ASB incidents, down 15% to 293 in Quarter 1 2024/25 from 344 in Quarter 1 2023/24.

• 41624.92 tonnes of household waste was produced and collected within South Tyneside between April and December 2023/24 (latest figure available). This is a reduction of 2% on the comparable position for 2022/23 of 48322.8 tonnes.

• 424.9kg of residual waste was produced per household within South Tyneside between April and March 2023/24 (latest figure available). This is a reduction of 33% on the comparable position for 2022/23 of 62336.35 tonnes.

• 571.69kg of residual waste was produced per household between April and March 2023/24, representing a 3% reduction on April to March 2022/23 when 590.6kg of residual waste was produced per household. Quarter 4’s position of 148.1kg was above Quarter 3 total of 127.8kg per household but in line with both Quarter 1 (148.7 kg) and Quarter 2 (148.8 kg). The annual total of 571.69kg per household is below the most recently published North East position (596.3kg per household) but above the latest national average (508.8kg per household). South Tyneside’s rate was previously one of the highest for urban areas nationally, at 703.8kg per household in 2019/20 so there has been a significant improvement over time..

  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%.

• 31.4% of household waste was recycled, reused or composted across South Tyneside between April and March 2023/24. This is 0.4% points higher than April to March 2022/23 (31%). The year end figure for 2023/24 remains higher than the average for the North East (30.3) and lower than the national average of 39.2%. This measure does not include South Tyneside remaining residual waste re-used to create energy.

• 21.5% of recycling waste collected in South Tyneside was contaminated with other waste.

  This is a 2.4% increase on the 2022/23 position (19.1%) and a 2.2% increase on Quarter 3 2023/24 (19.3%).

  * Waste data covers the period April to March 2023/24 (the latest available position from the Waste Partnership).

• A net total of 13 new homes were provided in South Tyneside in Quarter 1

  This figure is a decrease of 71.7% compared to the same period last year. This follows the net figure of 200 for homes delivered for the 2023/24 reporting year which was 14.3%, or 25 homes, higher than the figure for 2022/23 of 175 net homes provided. Whilst an improvement on the previous year the figure is still below the 306 target required by the Housing Delivery Test.

• 1.8% of properties owned by South Tyneside Council were emptyat the most recent time of reporting* (294 out of 16056 properties). This is higher than 2022 (1.6%) but lower than 2022 (2%). Our percentage of vacant properties is lower than Tyne and Wear and England (2.4% and 2.2%). South Tyneside has consistently reported a lower percentage of vacant properties than the Tyne and Wear average between 2018 and 2023.

  *This position is for the end of 2023 and the measure is reported annually

South Tyneside Homes

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

• The timeliness of emergency repairs has improved on 2023/24 with 99.9% of emergency repairs completed within the targeted timescale between April and June 2024. This represents a 0.3% point improvement on our already strong performance for the 2023/24 year (99.6%).

• The timeliness of non-emergency repairs was 93.9% between April 1st and June 30th. This measure is new for the 2024/25 reporting year. The target for this measure is currently 94%.

• 100% of required landlord inspections have been carried out for all relevant homes up to the end of Quarter 1 for gas service and safety inspections, fire risk assessments, asbestos management surveys, passenger lift safety and electrical checks. The 100% proportion is a positive continuation of last year’s position.

• All homes met the Decent Homes standard. up to the end of Quarter 1 for This measure was reported via the Tenant Satisfaction Measure Management Information. This position is in line with the previous year.