Performance Update - Quarter 3 / End December 2024

This quarterly report, covering the period up to December 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 - 2026) 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

• 149,279 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.
• 18% of the population is under 15
• 60.7% are aged 15-64
• 21.3% are 65 and over

Health and Wellbeing

• 50.1% of our children with free school meal eligible status achieve a good level of development at the end of Reception, compared to 51.7% regionally and 51.5% nationally.
• 62% of our pupils achieve the expected standard across reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2, similar to the regional and national average (61% and 60%).
• In 2022/23, 22.3% of children in Reception and 42% of children in Year 6 were overweight or obese.
• By adulthood, this figure more than doubles; 71.7% of over 18s were overweight or obese in 22/23, compared to 64% nationally.
• 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 3813 incidents reported in the borough between April and December 2024.

Jobs and Skills

• South Tyneside's major strengths are in advanced manufacturing and the energy and offshore wind supply chain.
• 33.7% of the working age population has RQF4 and above qualifications, lower than regionally (39.6%) and GB (46.7%).
• 8% of the local population have no qualifications, lower than regionally (8.5%) but higher than nationally (6.2%).
• 4 in 5 of businesses surveyed rated South Tyneside a Fair, Good or Excellent place to run a business.
• 450 new enterprise births were recorded in South Tyneside in 2023.

Inequalities

• Average life expectancy in the borough is 76.2 years for males and 80.2 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 14.2 - larger than regionally (13.7) and nationally (10.4).
• 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.
• 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 950 metres.

Financial Wellbeing

• 32.3% of South Tyneside's working age population was economically inactive in the 12 months to September 2024, while the figures for the region and for England during the same period were 25.8% and 21.2% respectively.
• Median gross weekly pay in South Tyneside was £662.20 in 2024, below North East (£661.20), and Great Britain levels (£729.20).
• 34.7% of school children are eligible for Free Schools Meals compared to 31.2% regionally and 24.6% nationally.
• 5.5% of the working age population were claiming out of work benefits as of June 2024, compared to 4.3% average regionally and 4.4% nationally.
• 9.8% of people aged 18-21 were claiming unemployment benefits in December 2025, compared to 6.6% regionally and 5.8% 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

Residents continue to face economic challenges both locally and nationally, with many in South Tyneside still feeling the effects of the cost-of-living crisis.

Although everyone has been affected by rising inflation, the increases in fuel and food prices have hit low-income households the hardest. Despite recent Bank of England base rate cuts, interest rates remain relatively high, as does inflation. As such, household budgets are still under strain, particularly for those with mortgage, loan, and credit repayments. Other factors impacting on the finances of some households include changes to Winter Fuel Allowance eligibility, anticipated energy price cap increases, and the scheduled end of the Household Support Fund.

• 5.2% of South Tyneside's 16-64 population were claiming out of work benefits at the end of December 2024, a claimant count of 4795.This is a slight decrease on the previous quarter (5.4%). This rate is in line with year end 2023/24 but lower than year end 2022/23 (5.8%). The claimant rate reported for the borough is higher than both the North East and England (4.1% and 4.3% respectively). Our rate of benefit claimants is the highest in the North East Combined Authority.

  Beacon and Bents remains the council ward with the highest rate for this indicator and has risen to 9.9% from 9.2% reported last quarter. The lowest rate by ward reported continues to be Cleadon and East Boldon at 1.2% unchanged on Quarter 2.

  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.

• 10.2% of 18-21 year olds (570 individuals) were claiming benefits in Decemeber 2024. This figure is unchanged on last quarter but remains noticeably above the North East (6.5%) and England (6.0%).

• 22,445 residents were claiming Universal Credit as at December 2024. This is a 4.6% increase on September 2024 (21,464). 34.1% of claimants were in employment, a position down on Quarter 2 (34.8%).

• At the end of Quarter 1 2024/25 (the most recently available data) 16% of residents aged 65 and over were claiming pension credit, a total of 5,089 people.

  The rate of claimants is unchanged from the preceding quarter.Our position on this measure has fallen in recent years from 19.3% in 2019 / 2020 and 22.1% in 2017 / 2018. We remain higher than the North East (13%) and England (13.9%).

The migration of people who are currently claiming Tax Credits 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 (such as 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

• 1,250 local pensioners who are just above the Pension Credit Threshold but may be struggling with rising fuel prices and the loss of Winter Fuel Allowance have been identified and given help to access a £200 support payment on offer from the Council and funded by the Housing Support Fund.
• All South Tyneside Primary Schools have been given a discretionary £2,500 pot of funding to provide a free school meal to children of families who are struggling financially but who do not meet the Free School Meals eligibility criteria.
• 8 South Tyneside schools are currently part of a pilot ‘Reducing the Cost of the School Day’ programme, funded through the North East Combined Authority, which offers training and audit tools to help schools recognise and address barriers faced by children, young people and family on low incomes.
• The Council hosted the region’s first Child Poverty Summit in October, bringing together representatives from across the borough to build up a picture of the challenges and identify actions that will form part of South Tyneside’s emerging Child Poverty Strategy and influence a regional Child Poverty strategy being led by the North East Combined Authority.
• Pension credit drop-in sessions were hosted at The Word in Autumn by the Council’s Welfare Support team and third sector partners, as part of efforts to make sure eligible residents aren’t missing out on important benefits.
• A network of more than 70+ Welcoming Spaces venues across the Borough have continued to provide much-needed warm spaces, social opportunities and advice and signposting across the winter for local residents experiencing isolation and navigating the cost of living crisis.
• 1000 'warm packs' made up of blankets, hot water bottles and flasks were distributed over the winter by the Council, working with food banks and Welcoming Spaces.

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

In recent months, the trend of reduced demand in Children’s Social Care has continued. The rates of Referrals into the service, Children in Need, Child Protection Plans have all declined in recent months and the rate of Children Care For has increased slightly. Rates for all these measures are below the latest regional average but above the England wide position. The proportion of Child Protection Plans which are repeats has reduced since Quarter 2 but remains higher than the North East, England and our Statistical Neighbours.

The number of children receiving support for complex special needs, already at a high level, has continued to increase, following the ongoing trend of recent years.

• Referrals in Children’s Services

  The rate of referrals starting in Children’s Social Care was 533 per 10,000 0-17 year olds.

  The referral rate has dropped by 9% since the end of Quarter 2 (607.7) and 19.25% since the end of the 2023 / 24 year (684.9). Our current referral rate is now below the regional average (598.8) but remains above the national position (518.3). This trend indicates a more efficient and targeted system, with earlier interventions reducing the need for higher-level social care interventions.

  The re-referral rate at the end of Quarter 3 (16.7%) has decreased from 22.8% at the end of the 2023 / 24 year and from 19.7% in Quarter 2 and is below the national (22.4%), regional (22.2%) and statistical neighbour positions (21.2%).

  * 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 1252 Children in Need as at the end of December 2024. The rate of Children in Need stood at 418.1, a reduction of 4.6% as compared to Quarter 2 (438.4, 1313 children). Our latest position is below the regional position (467.2) but signifcantly above the natioanl position (332.9).

  * 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

  150 children had a Child Protection Plan at the end of December 2024. The rate of plans (50.1 per 10,000) is down 35.3% from year end 2023/ 24 (77.5) and 27.1% lower than December 2023 (68.8). South Tyneside are below regional (66) and statistical neighbour (67.5) averages but slightly higher than England (41.6).

• Child Protection Plan Starts

  264 children became subject to a Child Protection Plan between April and December 2024 (88.1 per 10,000). The rate of Child Protection Plan starts has decreased by 16.4% on the 2023 / 24 year end rate of 105.4 per 10,000. South Tyneside rate is below the region (90.7) and statistical neighbour (89.7) but higher than England (51.8).

• % Repeat Child Protection Plans

  28.5% of Child Protection Plans starting in the last 12 months were a repeat plan, a reduction on the September figure of 29.1% however a 2.2% points increase on the 2023 / 24 year end figure of 26.2%. South Tyneside is above our statistical neighbours (23.4%), the North East (25.7%) and England (24.7%) averages.

  13.6% of Child Protection Plans were within 2 years of the child's last protection plan in the last 12 months between April and December 2024. This is an increase on 2023 / 24 (11%). Our position is above the latest North East position of 10.2%.

• Children Cared For

  At the end of Quarter 3 our number of Children Cared For was 306. The rate of Children Cared For (102.2 per 10,000) is up slightly on Quarter 2 (100.2) when there were 300 Children Cared For. The rate has remained relatively stable over the past 12 months and is lower than the average for the North East (114) but remains above the average for England (70).

  4.2% (14 children) were classified as Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC). Whilst this is an increase from Quarter 2 (9 children), the latest position is 27.7% lower than the peak in 2022 / 23 when there were 18 UASC. This can be explained by the decrease in referrals from the National Transfer Scheme and a number of our UASC turning 18.

• Children Becoming Cared For

  125 Children became Cared For between January and December 2024. The rate (41.7 per 10,000) is below 2023 / 2024 and 2022 / 23 (both 44.8). South Tyneside’s rate is below our statistical neighbours (49.1) but above the North East (48) and England (28).

• Adoptions

  During the period April to December 2024, 8% of children who ceased to be Cared For did so as a result of being adopted (11 children). This is a reduciton on the 2023/24 year end figure of 14.6%. South Tyneside are below the national average (12%) and the regional average (11%).

• EHCP Plans

  At the end of December 2024, 1775 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 4.8% as compared to December 2023 (1698) and up 2.4% when compared to March 2024 (1739).

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter

• The Children’s Services improvement journey is progressing well, with the latest Ofsted Monitoring visit in mid-October, which focused on care leavers and children transitioning from care, observing ‘positive improvement’, recognising that corporate parenting responsibilities were taken seriously, and noting ‘numerous examples of how children’s and young peoples’ voices have influenced and shaped service delivery’.
• The Foxden short-break centre for children with special educational needs has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, with inspectors recognising that ‘children are exceptionally well cared for by a dedicated and highly skilled team of staff’ and praising the fact that the centre is ‘nurturing, inspirational and full of positivity’.
• A fifth constellation of the Mockingbird ‘extended family’ fostering model has been launched in South Tyneside, with the new network linking experienced foster carers with other local foster families to help them share advice and guidance.
• South Tyneside is collaborating with Leeds City Council to develop a new Vision for Children’s Services, with a relational and restorative approach. Following a successful launch workshop in 2024, further Vision workshops with practitioners and partners and planned across the coming months.

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 can live as independently as is possible in their own home for as long as possible.

There has been a reduction in the overall number of people receiving a commissioned service since the end of September and people in short term residential care. The number of people living in residential/nursing care has risen, as have admissions to long term residential or nursing care. Positively, the Care Quality Commission ratings for most of the providers used by the Council remain ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.

• Number of people with Commissioned Services

  2,843 people were in receipt of commissioned services, funded either by the Local Authority or Health, at the end of December 2024, down 5.5% on the end of September 2023/24, when 3,007 individuals were supported. 2703 people were receiving services either part or fully funded by the local authority at the end of December, down 5.6% from the end of September (2863).

  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. The data is captured as a snapshot on the final day of the reporting period.

• Admissions of people aged 65+ to residential care

  177 people aged 65 and over were admitted to residential or nursing care up to the end of Quarter 3. The rate of admissions to care stood at 764 per 100,000, an increase of 4.3% as compared to Quarter 2. Our rate of admissions is currently 3% lower than in 2023/24 (788.3) but is higher than in the North East (710.1) and England (566).

  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

  Between April 1st and December 31st there were 11 admissions to residential or nursing care of people aged 18-64. The rate of admissions (16.8 per 100,000) is 82.6% higher than the low rate at the end of Quarter 2 (9.2). The current rate is below the rate in the 2023/24 year (17.2) and the rate in the North East (17.1), but higher than in England (15.1).

• People in long-term residential placements

  793 people were living in a Local Authority funded long term residential or nursing placement at the end of December 2024. This is an increase of 1.8% from 779 people at the end of Quarter 2. The position is a little above year end 2023/24 when there were 789 people in LA funded long term placements. These figures exclude individuals fully health funded.

• People in short-term residential placements

  There were 108 individuals in a short-term placement funded by Adult Social Care as of Decemeber 2024. This figure is down by 11.5% on the end of September 2024 (122).

  * The indicators above and the performance for 2024/25 are potentially subject to change pending the finalisation of returns for the national Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework and additional data quality checks.

• Provider Ratings

  Of the providers used by South Tyneside Council for residential, domiciliary care, extra care, specialist care, complex care and supported living, 95.5% were rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission. This is a very minor decrease from Quarter 2 (96.5%). One residential provider is rated as 'Inadequeate' and another is rated as 'Requires Improvement'. 3 of the providers used by the Council were yet to be inspected by CQC at the end of December 2024.

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter

• Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission undertook an on-site assessment visit to South Tyneside Adult Social Care and Commissioning over early April. Coming after months of preparation and hard work from staff, elected members, providers and partners, the visit has been an important opportunity showcase the innovative and collaborative work that is done locally with residents who have care and support needs.
• Work will begin in Spring with health system partners on a joint exercise looking at how we continue to improve ways of working, including strengthening reablement and intermediate care support, to support as many people as possible to remain independent and return home after a stay in hospital.
• Work to help South Tyneside become a more Age Friendly Community has continued over the Autumn, with the Age Friendly Steering Group focusing on Respect and Inclusion and Civic Participation. As part of these efforts, a self-assessment using age friendly cultural standards has taken place at South Shields Museum & Art Gallery and at Arbeia Roman Fort, with the ‘findings used to influence what the museums can do to improve the experience for older visitors.

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

For several years, South Tyneside has lagged behind the England average on key public health metrics. Both adult and childhood obesity rates are higher in South Tyneside compared to the North East and England. There are large numbers of adults undergoing treatment for alcohol and other substances. Smoking rates, including among mothers at the time of delivery, are above national and regional averages, although recent data indicates a decline. On a positive note, leisure membership numbers have reached their highest levels in the past 12 months.

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 is therefore 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

  3813 domestic abuse incidents were reported across South Tyneside between April 1st and December 31st 2024. The rate of domestic abuse was 41.5 incidents per 1,000 16+ population. The rate has risen from Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 (40.5 and 40.9 respectively) but is in line with 2023/24. Whilst there have been no statistically significant changes during the past few years, South Tyneside has consistently been the area in the Northumbria Police Force with the highest reported rate of domestic abuse. 46.3% of incidnets involved a child, above the force average of 42.2%, whilst 74% of incidents reported the victim as female.

  * 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

  Latest available figures (Quarter 2 2024/25) indicated that 10.2% of mothers were smoking at the time of delivery. This is a 1.3% reduction on the 2023/24 year end figure (11.5). South Tyneside’s position is above the North East (7.5%) and England (6%).

• Leisure centre usage

  Leisure membership stood at 10,863 at the end of Quarter 3. Although this is a drop of 3.2% as compared to Quarter 2 (11,226). This should not be a cuase for concern as numbers typically decrease towards the end of the calendar year and rebound in the new year. The proportion of concessionary members has increased marginally to 43% over the past quarter. The proportion has remained stable for over 6 months with very minor changes from month to month.

Highlights from the last Quarter

• The Individual Support and Placement scheme, a joint South Tyneside and Gateshead initiative which supports people recovering from challenges with alcohol and substance misuse into sustainment employment, has been shortlisted in the ‘Public Health’ category of the 2025 Local Government Chronicle Awards.
• Over 100 people from partner organisations came together in November for the grand opening of the new Restart Domestic Abuse Integrated Hub at Chichester House in South Shields.
• Over 120 people from over 40 different teams, services and organisations attended an interactive workshop in the Autumn, hosted by the Council, on collective support for people experiencing multiple disadvantages.
• £375,000 in UK Shared Prosperity funding has been invested into the redevelopment of seafront community sports facilities at Gypsies Green, with the old structure demolished and replaced with a new, modern facility with a new kitchen and social space as well as changing rooms and showers.

Homelessness

Performance Update

Homelessness remains a significant issue in South Tyneside. The number of families and individuals approaching the council due to the risk of becoming homeless has risen in recent years. The primary causes for people losing their homes include the end of private tenancies, inability of family or friends to provide accommodation, relationship breakdowns, and domestic abuse. Rough sleeping remains an issue with a high number of repeat rough sleepers but low numbers of people new to the street.

From a strategic housing perspective South Tyneside has continued to outperform neighbouring local authorities, sitting in line with the national position when it comes to avoiding high proportions of properties sitting vacant and implementing a range of strategic measures to address homelessness and housing issues across 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

  There were 818 at risk of homelessness presentations throughout Quarter 3, bringing the year to date total to 2,458. Our projected year end figure of 3,277 is almost identical to the end of year figure for 2023/24 (3,278).

  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 20 incidents of rough sleeping recorded for December 2024. This is down by 3 on the previous quarter. We are continuing to see high numbers of individuals sleeping rough throughout the month but the number of rough sleepers new to the street remains low month on month.

  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

• A review of homelessness in the borough has been completed and will inform the emerging Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy which will be launched in 2025.
• Work has begun, in partnership with Housing Charity Shelter, on setting up a Housing First pilot in the borough, which will work with people with entrenched homelessness. Funding has been secured to provide support for up to 10 households per year and to support research on the positive outcomes of the approach.
• A new service for people experiencing homelessness, including rough sleeper outreach, sustainment support and ‘Housing First’ support, has been commissioned and will be delivered by Oasis Community Housing across South Tyneside and Gateshead
• A new 12-month pilot, delivered by Beam, has also been launched to work within the private rented sector to offset homelessness, reduce temporary accommodation use and reengage households into employment.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• The Council is continuing to work with the North East Combined Authority on developing a Homelessness Prevention Blueprint for the region with clear asks of central government.

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 faces longstanding challenges with employment measures related to our Connected to Jobs ambition, lagging behind the average positions for our region and the nation. The underlying causes are well-known, deeply rooted, and common across the North East, where lower employment levels have long been linked to widespread deprivation. Unemployment rates have been higher here than in England and much of the region for several years.

Our academic results for GCSEs and A Levels are worse as compared to both regional and national benchmarks and our latest results represent a decline on last year. Our proportions of young residents and care leavers in education, employment or training are higher than the rates seen regionally and nationally.

Nationally, the economic situation is tough, with inflationary pressures, high interest rates, and weak growth. While these challenges affect the entire country, South Tyneside has not yet recovered from the pandemic to the same extent as some other areas, and high economic inactivity, largely due to long-term illness, remains a major issue.

To address this, several UK Shared Prosperity Fund projects aimed at helping people move closer to the labour market and reduce inactivity are now underway, with their impact being monitored. These projects include intensive support programs, pre-employment support, and efforts to overcome barriers to engagement.

Despite these challenges, there have been positive recent developments with council skills programs, which will be further enhanced by the North East Devolution Deal.

• Employment

  In the 12 months to September 2024 (latest available data) the 16-64 year old employment rate was 64.4%*. This is a decrease of 1.2% points on the preceeding period (65.6% for 12 months up to June 2024). Our position is markedly below both the latest positions for the North East (71.1%) and England (75.7%).

  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 +/- 1.2% 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

  The unemployment rate was 5.6% for the 12 months to September 2024. This is a very marginal, non-statistically significant drop of 0.1% points as compared to the previous quarter. The rate has not exceeded 5.6% for 4 consecutive periods, maintaining the 19 year low for this measure. Unemployment in the borough is above the regional and national positions (4.4% and 3.8% respectively).

• Economic Inactivity

  32.3%* of South Tyenside's 16-64 year olds were economically inactive in the 12 months from to September 2024 (29,300 people). This is an increase of 1.9% points on the previous reporting period*. Our rate of economic activity is significantly higher than the North East (25.8%) and England (21.2%).

  Long term sickness is the leading cause of economic inactivity amongst South Tyneside residents.In South Tyneside, roughly 3 in 4 econmically inactive residents do not want a job (75.2%; 22,000 people). The remainder (7,300 people) do want a job.

• Young People NEET

  6% of 16-17 year olds were not in employment, education or training (NEET) at the end of December 2024. This is a reduction of 3.1% points when compared to Quarter 2 2024/25.

  Our proportion of young people who are NEET is lower than both England (6.3%) and the North East (7.2%).

• Care Leavers EET

  72.5% of 19-21 year old care leavers were in education, employment or training (EET) at the end of Quarter 3, an 5.8% points increase on the end of Quarter 2 and in line with Quarter 3 2023/24. South Tyneside's proportion of EET care leavers is above the latest recorded figures for the North East (54.8%) and England (56%).

• A Level Results

  In the 2023/24 academic year, 84.8% of students in South Tyneside achieved two or more A levels. This represents a decline from 86.3% in 2022/23 and falls below the national average of 87.5%. However, it remains above the North East average of 84%. The average points score for students was 31.61, a decrease from 33.16 in 2022/23, and continues to be lower than the national average of 35.49.

• GCSE Results

  In the 2023/24 academic year, 58.3% of students passed their GCSE English and Mathematics exams, a decrease of 2.3% points from the previous year’s 60.6%. A pass is a grade between 9 and 4. South Tyneside’s performance is below the North East average of 62.3% and the national average of 65.4%.

  35.5% of students achieved a grade 9-5 (a strong pass) in their English and Mathematics GCSEs, which is 2% points lower than in 2022/23. Our results for this measure are below the North East average of 42.1% and significantly lower than the national average of 46.2%.

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter

• South Tyneside Council was highly commended in the Sustainable Project of the Year category of the 2024 North East and Cumbria Chartered Institute of Highways and Transport Awards.
• The latest South Tyneside Business Talk, hosted at One Trinity Green in September, shared insights with the local business community into engineering firm DME Systems’ global growth and work in high-pressure environments across the world.
• The Council, which employs 160+ apprentices, marked National Apprenticeship Week in February with a programme of advice drop-ins and events to raise the profile of apprenticeships and well as the impact they have on individuals, employers and the wider economy.
• Local businesses engaged with the South Tyneside Pledge have helped children from Harton Primary school to win the regional stage of the First Lego League’s Engineering Programme, where pupils have been exploring engineering problems linked to the ocean and developing ideas for innovative solutions, including a ‘bubble curtain’ filtering rubbish out of the River Tyne before it reaches the sea.
• 100 attendees from local businesses and community organisations came together for a South Tyneside Pledge Celebration Event in January which reflected upon the commitments Pledgees have made through the scheme and the impact they have had across the borough

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 and Anti-Social behaviour rates have reduced on Quarter 2 and reduced on the same period last year. South Tyneside’s rate of crime is still above the average of the Northumbria Police Force Area. Anti-social behaviour, and youth related incidents of anti-social behaviour in particular, have decreased in Quarter 3.

Waste and recycling data is comparatively delayed compared to other sources of data used in this report. Industrial action in waste services occurred during Quarters 3 and 4. We expect to see this impact on our figures.

Performance Update

• 11,486 crimes were reported in South Tyneside up to the end of Quarter 3. This was a 4% decrease comapred to Quarter 3 2023/24 (11,943). The rate of crime (101 per 1000 population) for Quarter 3 2024/25 is down from 105 per 1,000 people in 2023/24. Across the Northumbria Police Force Area, the rate of crime has decreased 3% to 97 crimes per 1,000 population. Violence against the person without injury was the most common crime in South Tyneside with 2982 offences (26 per 1,000 population). South Tyneside saw a 14% decrease in violence against the person with injury, force wide there was a 9% decrease. Vehicle crime decreased by 43% however there has been a 10% increase in theft and handling and a 31% increase in burglary.

• Anti-Social Behaviour incidents have decreased by 19% on the previous year. There were 2,944 incidents of anti-social behaviour reported between March and December 2024, compared to 3,919 incidents in March to December 2023. 77.3% of incidents related to adults, down 1% point on Quarter 2.

• 294.77kg of residual waste per household between April and September 2024/25, representing a 1% reduction on April to September 2023/24. South Tyneside's projected figure for the 2024/25 year would be 589.54kg per household. This is below the most recent North East annual figure of 596.3kg per household in 2022/23 and above the latest published England position of 508.8kg per household in 2022/23.

  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%.

• 33.2% of household waste was recycled, reused or composted across South Tyneside between March and September 2024/25. This is down by 1.4% points on Quarter 1 and a reduction of 5% points on the 2023/24 Quarter 2 figure of 37.2%. South Tyneside remains higher than the North East (32.4%) and lower than national (41.5%).

• 22.6% of recycling waste collected in South Tyneside was contaminated with other waste. This is a 1.8% points increase on the Quarter 2 2023/24 position (20.8%).

  * Waste data covers the period March to December 2024/25 (the latest available position available from the Waste Partnership).

• A net total of 54 new homes were provided in South Tyneside in Quarter 3, taking the year-to-date total for 2024/25 to 124 net homes. This is a decrease from the same point last year where there were 179 net homes provided. South Tyneside's rate of new homes remains below the levels required by the previous Housing Delivery Test figure of 309.

• At the end of Quarter 3, there were 264 vacant properties out of a total of 15,789. This represents 1.7% of the housing stock, consistent with the figures from Quarter 1 and Quarter 2. This percentage is slightly higher (by 0.1%) than at the end of 2023/24. It aligns with the rates from 2022/23 and is lower than those from 2021/22 and 2020/21, which experienced an increase during the pandemic.

South Tyneside Council Housing Services

• The timeliness of emergency repairs has continued to be high with 99.9% of emergency repairs completed within the targeted timescale between April and December 2024.The good performance on timeliness reported for Quarter 3 represents a 0.3% point improvement on our already strong performance for the 2023/24 year.

• All necessary landlord inspections have been completed for gas service and safety, fire risk assessments, asbestos management surveys, passenger lift safety and electrical checks for all relevant homes by the end of Quarter 3. The 100% completion rate is a positive continuation of last year's and the previous two quarters' performance.

• The timeliness for non-emergency repair stood at 92.5% an improvement on the previous quarter (91.9%). The target for this emasure is currently 94%.

• All homes met the Decent Homes standard. This measure was reported via the Tenant Satisfaction Measurement Management Information.

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter

• The Council celebrated the official opening in November of the Paul Younger Centre, the new renewable energy centre in Hebburn housing air source heat pumps that provide heating and hot water to the Hebburn Central leisure centre and to the Durham Court residential block. The building is named after the late Professor Paul Younger, a hydrogeologist and environmental engineer recognised around the world for his work on mine water pollution and renewable energy.
• The Council’s flagship Viking Energy Network Jarrow renewable energy scheme, which harnesses low-grade heat from the River Tyne and exports it to council-owned buildings, won a further national accolade, securing the Public Sector Project category at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors awards in October.
• The new £2 million ultra energy efficient Hindmarch Drive Council house development in Boldon has welcomed its first tenants.
• £250,000 has been invested to transform eight one-bedroom Council-owned flats into two-bedroomed houses, helping to bring more much-needed affordable family homes to the South Shields area.
• Over 150 delegates travelled to South Tyneside for the 20th annual South Tyneside International Magic Festival, which this year also included new ‘Junior Wizard’ workshops attracting 50 young people to the much-loved event.
• 6 new dedicated Urban Art Sites have been identified across the borough for street artists to use, following recommendations by the Council’s Our Place Scrutiny Committee which undertook an in-depth look into best practice around responding to unwanted graffiti and keeping the borough clean and tidy.

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.

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

October 2024 saw the launch of the Council’s new Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) Strategy, which sets out plans to better recognise and address inequalities by focusing on the following 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

Delivery against the Strategy has already supported a range of improvements, including a new online South Tyneside Data Observatory, a programme of reverse-mentoring where employees with lived experience share their insights with Council senior managers, and a new Equality Impact Assessment framework supporting greater transparency around how equalities considerations are factored into decision-making in Cabinet and Council meetings.

Beyond this, over recent months different services have also pressed forward to a range of initiatives and activities addressing inequalities and promoting community cohesion:

• A range of engagement sessions took place over Autumn with local schools, places of worship, community groups, and employment networks to better understand how the Council and partners can support people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds who felt targeted in the national and regional civil unrest in Summer 2024.
• 150+ people took part in the ‘From Adversity to Diversity’ event in October, co-hosted with the Dialogue Society, which celebrated the contributions to local life of people from different nationalities, ethnicities and disabilities.
• A new multi-agency South Tyneside Community Tension Monitoring group has been established to support community cohesion and tackle Hate Crime.
• Over 40 people took part in a Youth Council-led Intergenerational Debate in December which brought people from different age groups together to discuss views on topics including cyber bullying and anti-social behaviour.
• During February, The Word has hosted an exhibit of local queer stories titled ‘What does Pride mean to me?’ to mark the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and reflect on how that turning point in LGBTQ+ history sparked a political and social movement.

Spotlight on: Homelessness inequalities

Taking a slightly different approach to how we report on a recurring suite of notable performance and outcome trends against the other four Ambition areas, for Targeting Support to Making Fairer, we have committed to using this section of the report to shine a spotlight on a rolling basis on the intelligence we do have about inequalities experienced by different cohorts of service users across different service areas.

For this report, we have chosen to look closely at how characteristics including age, sex, and ethnicity affect homelessness.

What we know (as of Quarter 3 2024/25)...

Sex-related inequalities

• In South Tyneside, more men come forward for homelessness support, accounting for 55.4% of all homeless cases, while women account for 44.3%. Transgender applicants make up the remaining 0.3% of homeless cases.
• Domestic abuse is a factor in 5.35% of all homelessness presentations, with twice as many women than men presenting as homeless reporting domestic abuse as a factor.
• Men with a history of offending are nine times more likely to come forward for homelessness support than women with a history of offending.

Age-related inequalities

• Men presenting as homeless were more likely to do so if aged 35-44 (with 32.7% of homeless men falling into this age group, and 29.9% of women), whereas women are more likely to present between the ages of 25-34 (34.7% of homeless women are in this age category, and 29.5% of men).
• Men and women were similarly likely to present as homeless at age 18-24 (with 17.7% of all homeless men falling into this age group and 17.9% of all homeless women falling into this age group).
• Older people are the least likely to experience homelessness with only 2.3% of applications coming from those aged 65 or older. Only 0.3% of older applicants considered themselves to have support needs as a result of their age.

Ethnicity-related inequalities

• The ethnic profile of the population of people presenting as homeless locally is broadly similar to the profile of the wider South Tyneside population. While 6.5% of applicants refused or did not state their ethnic background, 82.8% of all homeless applications in Q3 2024/25 were made by residents from a White ethnic background, residents from an Asian and any other ethnic background accounted for 3.7% of applications each and Black residents accounted for 2.4% of applications.(As a comparison, the 2021 census indicates that 94.4% of the local population are white and 5.6% are from an ethnic minority background.)
• Residents of mixed or other ethnic backgrounds were 7 times more likely to present in crisis than any other ethnic group, except for those from a white background.
• White residents are 2.2x more likely to present to services in crisis than at prevention stage.

Disability-related inequalities

• Mental health issues were disclosed by 3.6% of applicants in Q3 and physical health issues 3.4%.
• Addictions accounted for 3.6% of recorded needs.
• Just 0.3% of applicants disclosed a learning disability or difficulty.

Care experience

Care experienced young people aged between 18-24 was a recorded need in just 1.1% of all cases and highlights the strength of collaborative approaches to youth homelessness.

Socio-economic status

• More than half (53.87%) of homeless applicants in Q3 were claiming Universal Credit as their main income. 22.91% of applicants refused to say or stated that they had no benefit claims and 17.96% were in receipt of a disability related benefit.
• 45.2% of applicants for homelessness assistance stated they were registered as unemployed and a further 17.03% were working 30 hours or more per week. A further 16.41% were not seeking work or looking after family.

Information relating to applicant needs are taken from recorded homeless cases and are based on a combination of self-declaration by the applicant and confirmed needs during assessment. We are looking into how we might improve information around support needs and how we can ensure that residents needs are disclosed at the earliest opportunity. Work is ongoing to explore shared assessment processes with council services that come into contact with residents directly and reviewing how individuals are asked about needs to simplify language and understanding. Co-ordination and collaboration of other council teams and third sector organisations forms a key aspect of our strategy towards homeless households over the next 5 years.

What are we doing to help tackle some of these inequalities?

South Tyneside Council provides a range of targeted support for people experiencing homelessness.

• A specialist team, as part of statutory requirements under the Housing Act 1996, assess and determine duties owed and advise on prevention and relief opportunities. This team have supported 8,039 households over the last 5 years and prevented or relieved homelessness on 4,077 occasions. The team includes dedicated Temporary Accommodation Coordinator, Housing Options Coordinator, Armed Forces officer and Young Persons Support Officer (funded by Children Services).
• The Council has had housing-related support contracts in place with several third sector providers since 2005. Contracts are split across need/age and supported accommodation accessible for homeless applicants who require additional support with their needs and are aged 16+. Accommodation is provided by partner organisations across the borough and includes specialist Domestic Abuse and Mental Health provision. There are currently 182 units commissioned and a further 49 non-commissioned units are available to us from providers in the borough.
• Outreach support for those sleeping rough in the borough is in place to ensure that rough sleeping is rare, brief and non-reoccurring.
• A dedicated tenancy sustainment service to support tenants of council housing and is available to all 16,000+ council tenants. The team provide short-long term, intensive support to customers with multiple needs, who are at serious risk of losing their council tenancy if intervention is not provided. Working alongside existing services offered by South Tyneside Council and external agencies to ensure interventions are more preventative, supportive, and proactive in nature and very much based on the customers assessed vulnerability and identified need.
• A specialist Welfare Support Team supporting residents to access a range of financial initiatives and advisory services to help maximise income and promote financial inclusion. This team also administer the council’s provision under the Community Care Grant process to provide support to set up home after an unsettled period or to enable them to remain in the community and prevent homelessness.
• Support for new refugees living in the borough provides early intervention and prevention along with relevant information to support service users with practical assistance, navigating systems and processes, as well as support with integration and community links.
• The council has implemented a joint protocol to ensure that partners continue to work together to provide a consistent and coordinated response to 16 and 17-year-old young people who present as homeless and in need of accommodation and accommodation support services.
• South Tyneside Council chairs the Rough Sleeper Action Group, meeting every fortnight to discuss people found sleeping rough and those who are at greater risk of doing so. Our multi-agency approach helps to determine what accommodation, and support can be offered to the individual.
• Housing and Leaving Care teams have co-authored a joint protocol to set out how we will work together to make sure the right homes and support are available to care experienced young people, with support provided to care leavers until they are twenty-five.

Additional Information

The South Tyneside Equality Information Report draws together what we know about the characteristics of the local population and the Council workforce.

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:

• Adult Social Care Contributions Policy Proposals Consultation - People who use the Council’s Adult Social Care services are being asked for their views on proposed changes to the client contributions policy. Service users are invited to share their thoughts through a questionnaire, available in print or online and drop-in sessions are also planned at community spaces and events across the borough. The survey will close on 9th May.
• Traffic Regulation Order Consultation – A formal consultation exercise aimed at helping prevent misuse of free car parks across the borough took place between Friday 31st January and 21st February. The proposals being consulted upon would enable the Council to better enforce rules such as time limits and designated spaces for electric vehicles and Blue Badge holders.
• Pharmacy Needs Assessment Consultation Survey - Residents were invited to answer questions about the way they use local pharmacies as part of the Pharmacy Needs Assessment consultation survey. The survey closed on 14th February 2025.
• Community Area Forum Survey – Residents were invited to complete an online survey to share their views on Community Area Forums, the six formal committees which are held across five different local areas and are open to the public. Views were sought on topics including priority local issues, barriers to attending, and perceptions of the current forums. The deadline for responses was 10th February 2025.
• North East Mayor’s Local Transport Plan Consultation - South Tyneside residents were encouraged to be part of shaping the future of North East Transport by sharing views as part of the North East Mayor’s Local Transport Plan Consultation, which took place over 4th November 2024 to 26th January 2025.
• Participation in Adult Skills Survey - A ‘Participation in Adult Skills’ survey went out to local residents and employment and skills support professionals in January seeking insight into barriers to people taking up adult training courses and views on the kinds of courses, subjects and learning approaches that were most in demand locally.
• Working Together Group (Ongoing) – Local people with experience of Adult Social Care are invited to share their insights and experiences so that they can shape improvements to services. More information is available at https://campaigns.southtyneside.gov.uk/adult-social-care/
• Digital Champions Panel (Ongoing) – Residents from across South Tyneside are invited to join the Digital Champions Panel to give their views through surveys, workshops and on new e-services for residents as they are developed. More information is available at https://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/6751/Digital-Championspanel-have-your-say-on-digital-services-and-websites
• South Tyneside Blue Plaque Scheme Nominations - Nominations are currently being sought for the 2026 round of the South Tyneside Blue Plaque Scheme, which installs plaques at sites around the borough to honour the life and work of individuals who have made a significant contribute to the area’s rich culture and heritage. The deadline for applications is 31 August 2025.
• ‘Your Jarrow’ Jarrow Forward Plan Survey - Residents, workers and businesses are invited to share their priorities for the area to help the Jarrow Forward neighbourhood board develop a plan for how to invest £20m into the town over the next decade. The survey is open for 12 weeks from 5th March. More information is available at https://www.ourconversation.co.uk/yourjarrow/

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 live measures.
• LG Inform is the local area benchmarking tool from the Local Government Association.

Q4 / End of March 2025 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

July 2025

Q1 / End of June 2025 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

October 2025

Annual Review 2025 & Q2 / End of September 2025 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

January 2026

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're not in paid work, but they're 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

Employment rate: the employment rate is the percentage of the population who are working age (16-64) who who did some paid work in the reference week (whether as an employee or self-employed), including those who had a job that they were temporarily away from (e.g. on holiday), those on government-supported training and employment programmes, and those doing unpaid family work.

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

Households are considered fuel poor if they are living in a property with an energy efficiency rating of band D or below and after housing and energy costs, their income is below the poverty line.

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 proportion of working aged people (aged 16+) without a job who were available to start work in the two weeks following their interview and who had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained. As Annual Population Survey estimates for local authorities are based on very small sample sizes, modelbased unemployment estimates produced by the Office for National Statistics, which also factor in Claimant Count figures, are used to get more precise estimates.