Performance Update - Quarter 4 / End March 2025

This quarterly report, covering the period up to March 2025, 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

• 149,270 residents
• 49% Male, 51% 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.
• 63% of our pupils achieve the expected standard across reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2, similar to the regional and national average (62% and 61%).
• In 2022/23, 22.6% of children in Reception and 42% of children in Year 6 were overweight or obese.
• 70% of over 18s are overweight or obese, compared to 64.5% 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 38.4 domestic abuse related incidents or crimes per 1000 people, compared to the national rate of 27.1 per 1000 people.

Jobs and Skills

• South Tyneside's major strengths are in advanced manufacturing and the energy and offshore wind supply chain.
• 26.1% of the population aged 18+ has Level 4 (bachelor's degree level) or above qualifications, lower than nationally (33.9%).
• 20.5% of the local population have no qualifications, higher than the national average of 18.1%.
• 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 the latest available year.

Inequalities

• Average life expectancy (at birth) 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. The Index of Multiple Deprivation is a national measure which incorporates measures relating to income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers to housing and services, and living environment into a single score, allowing for an understanding of relative disadvantage across England.
• 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.
• More than 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

• 30.7% of South Tyneside's working age population was economically inactive in the 12 months to September 2024, while North East and England-wide figures were 25.9% and 21.1% respectively.
• Median gross weekly pay in South Tyneside was £662.20 in 2024, slightly above the North East average (£661.20), but below the Great Britain average (£729.80).
• 33.4% of school children are eligible for Free Schools Meals compared to 31.2% regionally and 25.7% nationally.
• 5.2% of the working age population were claiming out of work benefits as of March 2025, compared to 4.1% average regionally and 4.3% nationally.
• 10.4% of people aged 18-21 were claiming unemployment benefits in March 2025, compared to 6.6% regionally and 6.1% 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

A higher percentage of residents of all ages in South Tyneside are in receipt of unemployment benefits compared to the North East and England averages.

Residents are affected by economic challenges at both the local and national levels, with many people in South Tyneside continuing to feel the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. While high inflation has affected everyone, the surge in fuel and food prices particularly affects low-income families. Despite recent decreases, interest rates and inflation remain relatively high. This increases the financial pressure on those repaying mortgages or other loans.

• There were 4,650 out of work benefit claimants at the end of March. This is 5.1% of our population aged 16 to 64. This is a marginal fall of 0.1 % points since December 2024.. Our rate of benefit claimants continues to be the highest in the North East Combined Authority area. The rate of benefit claimants for the North East and England were 4% and 4.2% respectively.

  Beacon and Bents, Biddick and All Saints, and Simonside and Rekendyke were the wards with the highest rate of claimants.

  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.

• The percentage of young people claiming out of work benefits has increased in the last quarter.

  10% of 18-21 year olds were claiming out of work benefits (550 claimants), down from 10.2% last quarter. Our position is markedly higher than the North East (6.6%) and England (6.1%).

• 23,072 residents were claiming Universal Credit at the end of March 2025. This is an increase of 0.5% points from the previous quarter.

• 16.5% of residents aged 65+ were claiming pension credit, in Quarter 3 2024/25.

  This increase follows local and national pension credit uptake initiatives following Government changes to Winter FUel Allowance eligibility.

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

• The Council launched its new Child Poverty Strategy in March, informed by insights gathered at the 2024 Child Poverty Summit, which sets out a range of actions to help maximise local families' incomes, make work a route out of poverty, promote the best start in life for children and young people, and make all decisions through a 'poverty' lens.
• 13 South Tyneside schools are now engaged with the ‘Reducing the Cost of the School Day’ programme and are accessing training to help them spot cost-of-living barriers faced by pupils and families and better signpost to local support.
• A targeted campaign has been launched to raise awareness locally of the recent increase in the Carer's Allowance earning limits which could mean a potential extra income for some carers of £45 per week or £2,340 per year.
• 9,000 children and young people on Free School Meals have received vouchers to support with food over the February half term, Easter and May half term holidays.
• 1,230 children and young people attended the Holiday, Activities and Food programme over the 2-week Easter Holiday period, which saw 36 local providers offer 89 activities, providing vital support alongside a meal for low-income families during the school holidays.
• 181 residents attended South Tyneside Housing Services Energy Roadshows between January and May 2025, receiving advice and tips to reduce fuel costs and save energy.
• Over 400 low-income pensioners just above the Pension Credit Threshold were given a £200 support payment this Spring to help them manage rising fuel prices and the loss of Winter Fuel Allowance.
• 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 for local residents experiencing isolation and navigating the cost-of-living crisis.
• 139 people have been referred to Citizen's Advice for help with debt and benefit advice through the 'Welfare Beyond the School Gate' project.
• 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 a reduction in referrals being accepted into Children's Social Care has continued, linked to changes in our approach to 'front door' contact and more of this contact being dealt with through our Early Help offer.

The rates of Referrals into the service, Children in Need, Children with Child Protection Plans and Children Cared For have declined in recent months. Rates for all these measures for support being provided are below the latest regional averages but still above the national positions.

Our ongoing work with Ofsted is indicating that children and families in South Tyneside are receiving the right support at the right time.

There continue to be some areas of challenge that Children’ Services are working to address, including a higher proportion of repeat child protection plans than we would like to see, and a need to increase the take up of Child in Need support following a child protection plan. However, taken together, the measures above indicate that, while working in a challenging context, the Council and Childrens Services are doing the right things to support local families and give every child the best start in life.

The number of children receiving support for complex special needs (EHCP Plans), 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 accepted into Children’s Social Care has dropped in the past quarter, which continues the trend throughout 2024/25.

  The position at the end of March was 527.9 per 10,000 0-17 year olds, 4.6% lower than December (533.3). South Tyneside's position is below the region (598.8) but above England (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 has also decreased from 16.7% at the end of December to 15% at the end of March.

  * Our statistical neighbours / similar areas are as follows; North East: Sunderland, Redcar and Cleveland, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Durham, and Darlington. North West: Tameside, Rochdale and Blackpool. Yorkshire and Humber: Rotherham. The statistical neighbour rate is the average across these similar areas. These neighbours have just changed so rates will not match previous reports.

• Children in Need

  At the end of March, there were 1209 Children in Need. The rate of Children in Need has reduced on the previous quarter. The March position of 403.3 was down by 3.5% as compared to December (418.1). Our rate is above the national position of (332.9) but below the North East (467.2) and our Statistical Neighbours.

  * Our Children in Need number covers all children with an open Children and Families Social Care referral 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

  The rate of Child Protection Plans has increased slightly on the previous quarter. 153 children were subject to a Child Protection Plan at the end of Quarter 4. The rate of Child Protection Plans is 51.1, up from 50.1 at Quarter 2 but well below the 2023/24 year end rate of 78.4. Our most recent position is below the North East (66) but above England (41.6).

• Child Protection Plan Starts

  239 children became subject to Child Protection Plans in 2024/25, at a rate of 78.8 per 10,000 0-17 year olds. This is a reduction on the December position of 88.1 and remains below the North East (90.7) and statistical neighbours (94.8) but above the England rate of 51.8.

• % Repeat Child Protection Plans

  There has been an increase in the proportion of Child Protection Plans that were repeat plans over the past year. At the end of March, a third of plans which started in the alst 12 months were repeat plans, up from 28.4% at the end of December and 26.2% in 2023/24. South Tyneside has a higher proportion of repeat plans than the North East (25.7%), statistical neighbours (25.1%) and England (24.7%).

  Of all Child Protection Plans starting in the past 12 months, 16.3% of plans were within 2 years of a previous plan ending. This is above Quarter 3 (13.8%) and year end 2023/24 (11%) and above the North East (10.2%).

• Children Cared For

  295 children were Cared For by South Tyneside Council at the end of March, down from 306 at Quarter 3. The end of March rate of Children Cared For was 98 per 10,000, which is below the North East (114) and statistical neighbours (129.7) but remains above England as a whole (70).

• Children Becoming Cared For

  The rate of children became Cared For at the end of March was 42.7, which is a 2.4% increase on the end of December, when the rate stood at 41.7. The 2024/25 year end figure is below last year which was 46.5. South Tyneside's position is below the North East (48) and statistical neighbours (48.9). Our rate remains higher than the national position of 28 per 10,000.

• Adoptions

  14% of children who ceased to be Cared For in 2024/25 did so as a result of adoption. This is an increase on Quarter 3 (8%) and is roughly inline with 2023/24 (14.6%). We are above the regional (11%), national (9%) and statistical neighbours (12%) positions.

• EHCP Plans

  The number of Education, Health and Care Plans has continued to increase. At the end of Quarter 4, 1823 children and young people had an open EHCP to support their more complex special needs. This number is up from 1739 at year end 2023/24 and 1707 at year end 2022/23. This figure includes young people above school age, up to 25 years old.

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter

• The Children’s Services improvement journey is progressing well, with the latest Ofsted Monitoring visit in May focusing on the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub and the imapct of Leadership and Management on social work practice. The inspectors report observed that children in need of help orprotection are receiving a timely, effective and consistent response from the service, praised coordination between out-of-hours and daytime services, and noted that clear and effective interfaces between services had led to improved pathways and reduced delays, helping to ensure children and families receive the right support at the right time.
• Building works at the new Children's Home and Assessment Centre in Seton Avenue, South Shields, have now been completed, extending the Council's ability to support more children and young people in the local area.
• The important role played by grandparents and great-grandparents was celebrated locally with a range of multi-generational family activities hosted at Family Hubs across South Tyneside, including arts and crafts, songs and stories, to mark Global Intergenerational Week in April.
• A new Joint Housing Protocol for Care Leavers, developed through cross-service working by the Council's Housing Services and Leaving Care team, has been agreed, aimed at helping make sure the right homes and housing support is available to care experienced young people between the ages of 16 and 25.

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

Requests for support from Adult Social Care have risen in recent years with more people overall requiring care and support packages including long term residential care. This is a national trend linked to an ageing population and dementia type illnesses but demand for adult social care support is generally higher in South Tyneside which can be attributed to our demographics and being 23rd most deprived borough nationally. We are also seeing increasing pressures linked to working age adults and complexity of need.

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. The six priorities of the strategy work towards achieving this ambition.

There has been a reduction in the overall number of people receiving a commissioned support since the end of September and people placed in short term residential care. However, we know that we still need to reduce the numbers of people who are residing in residential/nursing care on a permanent basis. 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

  There was an increase in the number of people with a commissioned service from 2,843 to 2,933 between Quarter 3 to Quarter 4. This is below the Quarter 2 position of 3,007 and year end 2023/24 (3,042). This figure includes those funded by the local authority or rentirely the health services. 2,764 people were receiving services either part or fully funded by the local authority.

  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

  Throughout 2024/25,251 people aged 65 and over were admitted to residential care. The rate of admissions was 812.5 per 100,000, an increase on Quarter 3 (802.8). However, there has been a clear reduction since 2022/23 when we saw 278 admissions at a rate of 899.9.

  The current rate for South Tyneside is above the most recently published regional and national rates. These were 710.1 and 566 respectively.

  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

  There were 16 people aged 18 to 64 admitted to care in 2024/25. The rate of admissions was 18.3 per 100,000, which is higher than Quarter 3 16.8 per 100,000 (11 people were admitted April to December). The rate of admissions is higher than 2023/24 when the position was 17.2 and is above the regional average of 17.1 and the national average of 15.2.

• People in long-term residential placements

  801 people were in a long term residential or nursing placement funded by the Council at the end of March 2025. This is up slightly on December when there were 779 placements and higer than at the end of March 2024 when 789 people where in a long term placement. This position excludes individuals fully funded by health services.

• People in short-term residential placements

  111 people were in a short-term placement. This is an increase from 102 at the end of December but is lower than last year when 114 people were in a short term placement. As with the measure for long term placements, this figure excludes those whose placement is fully funded by health services.

  * The indicators above in year 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

  South Tyneside Council were using 48 providers for residential, domiciliary care, extra care, specialist care, complex care and supported living at the end of March. 97.7% of our providers were rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission. This is an improvement from the already postiive position of 96.4$ at Quarter 3. One provider was rated as 'Inadequeate', and two providers were yet to be inspected by CQC regime at the end of March 2025.

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.
• More than 120 professionals and 150 residents attended 'Conenctfest', an event at Temple Park Leisure Centre in April celebrating and showcasing the wide range of activities available in the borough where people can build connections and community.
• Building works at new supported living complexes in Concorde Way, Jarrow, and Hedgeley Road, Hebburn, are now complete, with these new bespoke homes providing specialist accommodation for local residents with learning disabilities, autism and complex care needs.
• South Tyneside Care Academy has launched a new easy-to-use Job Portal to help people interested in a career in care to explore live job openings across the borough.
• 'Discharge to Access' (D2A), a new home-based reablement service jointly operated between the Council's Adult Social Care and the NHS has been launched to help people returning home from hospital regain their independence. Users of the service will be assessed and supported over a 6-week period by a Recovery at Home team who will help them plan and achieve goals such as preparing food independently and will match them with helpful equipment and assistive technology.

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

** Issue with NHS data provided for this year, correct figure is understood to be lower.

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.

South Tyneside faces numerous challenges relating to our healthy and well ambition. The rates of domestic abuse reported for the borough are the highest in the area covered by Northumbria Police. Obesity is more common in the borough than regionally or nationally, and there are large numbers of adults undergoing treatment for substance abuse or addition. More positively, smoking rates have reduced over recent years and are now in line with the region, and membership of leisure centres have also grown steadily over the past few years and now stand at a record high of over 11,000 members.

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

  Between April 2024 and March 2025, 5,103 domestic abuse incidents were reported to Northumbria Police. This is similar to last year when 5,083 incidents were reported. The rate of incidents, 41.7 per 1,000 16+ population, has increased very slightly compared to last year (41.5). The rate of domestic abuse on South Tyneside continues to be the highest in the force area. The forcewide rate for the same period was 33.0. 46.2% of incidents involved a child, slightly lower than last year's position of 48.8%. The proportion of repeat victims also dropped from 44% across 2023/24 to 41% for 2024/25.

  * 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.

  Work is ongoing to prevent and reduce incidents of domestic abuse as part of the overall strategic approach within South Tyneside, however this will take time and may increase if we are promoting the services and key campaigns as well as improving staff’s knowledge to identify and refer domestic abuse cases.

  Workstreams have been established with partners to look at healthy relationships with young people to break the cycle of abuse, and raise awareness of misogyny, coercive control and unhealthy relationships. Dedicated workstreams are also set up for Victims, perpetrators and accommodation to ensure our policies, procedures and approach is responsive and delivering better outcomes. The MARAC (Multi Agency Risk assessment Conference) steering group is established and has reviewed the MARAC protocol with partners to establish a clear approach to our High risk victims and perpetrators, monitoring the data, case discussions and outcomes, as well as partner involvement and overall process.

  We are also working as part of the duty to collaborate with the PCC’s Office, local authorities within the Northumbria Police area and our health partners to see where we can jointly address unmet need, and future collaborative commissioning arrangements.

  Although the incident rate remains similar this does not represent the breadth of work being undertaken to tackle domestic abuse, a data dashboard is also in development to track any trends, issues and positive outcomes to enhance what we know about the scale of the issue, to helps us understand the complexity of the challenge and what we need to do about it.

• Mothers smoking at time of delivery

  9.5% of mothers were smoking at the time of delivery at the end of December / Quarter 3 (latest available), a reduction since Quarter 2 (10.2%). it is positive that this key measure is now lower than all previous years as far back as 2019/20. While there has been an improvement, and this is now statistically similar to the regional average of 7.3%, it still remains above the national average of 5.9%.

• Leisure centre usage

  There were 11,371 leisure members at the end of 2024/25. This is the highest number to date and it's really positive that there has been a large increase from 10.863 reported for December 2024. Cocnsessions made up for 45% of our members, which is 2% points higher than the previous quarter and is also the highest level on record.

Highlights from the last Quarter

• A new Domestic Abuse Housing Policy has been agreed to help ensure that housing services staff are trained and able to properly recognise and support victims of domestic abuse.
• Plans are in place for the transformation of disused tennis courts in West Park into a new BMX track which it is hoped will attract both children and adults to bring their bikes, skateboards and scooters and enjoy the outdoors.
• Hygiene bins have been made available in men's public toilets across South Tyneside to make sure that all people using these facilities, including men who wear Stoma bags or live with incontinence, have a discreet and sanitary way to dispose of hygiene products.
• A joint South Tyneside and Gateshead initiative which supports people recovering from challenges with alcohol and substance misuse into sustainable employment, the ‘Individual Support and Placement scheme’, has been shortlisted in the ‘Public Health’ category of this year’s Local Government Chronicle Awards.
• A new South Tyneside Alcohol Strategy has been launched for the borough and will focus system efforts to prevent alcohol misuse, support children and young people to have an alcohol-free childhood, reduce health inequalities, deliver safe and effective treatment, tackle alcohol-related stigma, and improve community safety.

Homelessness

Performance Update

Homelessness is a cause for concern across the borough. The number of families and individuals who present to the council as at risk of homelessness has continued to grow over the past year. Private tenancies ending, the inability of families to accommodate, relationship breakdown and domestic abuse have all been factors in the rising levels of presentations. Whilst our rough sleeping figures have remained consistent on the previous quarter, our rates of rough sleepers are lower than those seen in larger urban centres in the Tyne and Wear area.

South Tyneside has developed new strategies to help avoid homelessness and housing issues for our residents and our housing services have lowered the level of vacant properties owned by the council in the last quarter.

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

  946 people came to the Council due to being at risk of homelessness during Quarter 4, taking the total number in 2024/25 to 3,405.. The latest annual figure is 10.1% higher than 2023/24 (3,092). Over the longer term, the rise since 2019/20 is even starker. During that year 2,265 at 'risk of homelessness presentations' were recorded, and our latest position is 50.3% higher than 5 years ago.

  Over half of all presentations (57%) required advice and guidance rather than accommodation during Quarter 4. This is down 7% points comapred to Quarter 3.

  Homelessness presentations are people contacting the Council concerned or at risk of becoming homeless, sich 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

  At the end of March 2025 there were 4 individuals sleeping rough. This position is unchanged from the previous quarter but is higher than the same point last year when just 1 individual was reported as rough sleeping.

  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 new Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy has now been brought forward following extensive consultation with internal and external stakeholders and review of homelessness in the borough.
• Work is expected to begin later this year in partnership with Housing Charity Shelter, on a Housing First pilot which will work with people with entrenched homelessness.
• A programme of support for local people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping has been reviewed and remodelled to better promote homelessness prevention and sustainable support and move people away from the need for emergency placements.
• A 12-month pilot initiative is underway working with the private rented sector to offset homelessness, reduce temporary accommodation use and re-engage households into employment, with some initial positive outcomes already being seen and it hoped that the pilot will enable the expansion of the offer.
• A new support officer has been recruited to further support with the Council's rough sleeping outreach offer and rough sleeper accommodation units.
• 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, with a proposal expected to be taken to NECA Cabinet later in the year.
• An external consultant has been commissioned to review the Council's frontline homelessness service with a view to supporting the development of an action plan to drive up performance, focus on prevention, and ensure grant funding opportunities are maximised.
• The Council recently hosted a visit from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government officials looking at youth homelessness, with the trip resulting in a set of recommendations which the Council is now working to implement.
• Work is underway on strengthening the Housing Allocations Policy to include support and advice around those fidning themselves homeless or at risk of homelessness.
• A Joint Housing Protocol for Care Leavers has been established to ensure that care experienced young people get the right support to find housing when they leave care and to prevent homelessness.
• Work has also begun on reviewing and updating the Council's homelessness protocol for young people aged 16 and 17, with engagement planned with young people and those with lived experience of youth 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

The national economic situation presents many challenges including inflation, higher interest rates and slow growth. The North East as a region has lagged behind the national economic positions for several years and South Tyneside is no exception. This is demonstrated by our levels of unemployment and economic inactivity which have been behind most of our regional neighbours for some time. Long term illness remains one of the most prominent factors behind economic inactivity.

UK Shared Prosperity fund projects are taking effect in the borough and £52 million has been allocated to the NECA to facilitate employability and health interventions. On a more positive note, our levels of young people who are NEET is lower than regional and national positions.

• Employment

  65.5%* of South Tyneside residents aged 16-64 were in employment per our latest position in the 12 months to March 2025. This is up a little from 64.4%. This comapres to 65% in the 12 months to December 2024. South Tyneside's rates of employment are significantly lower than the regional and national average rates (70.8% and 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 rate of unemployment across the borough was 5.9% in the 12 months to March 2025. The previous position was 5.7%.

  Regional and national rates of unemployment were lower. The North East rate was 4.4% and the England rate was 4%.

• Economic Inactivity

  31% of South Tyneside's 16-64 year olds were economically inactive in the 12 months from to March 2025 (28,500 individuals). This is down by 1.6% points on the previous reporting period*. Our rate of economic inactivity continues to be significantly higher than the England-wide rate (21.2%).

  The most common reason given by residents for economic inactivity was long term sickness. Across the borough, nearly 4 in 5 economically inactive residents do not want a job (79.9%; 22,800 people). The remainder (5,700 people) do want a job.

  Confidence interval of 4%, we cannot call this change statistically significant.

• Young People NEET

  5.2% of 16 and 17 year olds were Not in Employment, Education or Training. This is down 0.8% on Quarter 3 and down 3.9% on Quarter 2.

  The proportion of young people who are NEET is level with the national position but is below the North East average of 6.2%.

• Care Leavers EET

  At the end of March 2025 74.7% of our care leavers aged 19-21 were in employment, education or training. This has increased on the 72.5% from the end of December. The proportion of care leavers from South Tyneside who are EET is above the latest figures for the North East and England which were 54.*% and 56.0% respectively (March 2024, latest officially confirmed positions).

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter

• £18.2 million has been secured from the North East Combined Authority's Early Capital and Investment Fund to support the relocation of South Tyneside College and the South Shields Marine School, which, in addition to the £21.9m of funding already secured from the Department of Education's Further Education Capital Transformation fund and the £20m of government regeneration funding, will see the development of a new state-of-the-art 14,000 square metre campus, close to South Shields Interchange, bringing thousands of students and staff into South Shields Town Centre every day.
• A special Advanced Manufacturing Careers Fair was held in the South Shields Town Hall in March aimed at introducing local jobseekers to employers including Nissan, Caterpillar, Vantec Europe, Marelli, AESC UK, Jatco, Unipres UK, Adient Seating, Mi-King and more.
• The Mayor's Annual Business Dinner in April brought together local businesses and celebrated the innovation, strength and resilience of the South Tyneside business community, while also raising money for the Mayor's Charity.
• One Harton Quay, formerly the BT building, will be brought back into use as student accommodation as part of South Tyneside College's move into South Shields Town Centre, supporting the wider South Shields town centre and riverside regeneration.
• National Apprenticeship Week, which took place in February, was marked by the Council with a programme of advice drop-ins and events to raise the profile of apprenticeships as well as the impact they have on individuals, employers and the wider economy.
• 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

The past year has seen positive trends in our community safety measures. Crime rates in the borough have seen a reduction, however, South Tyneside is still above the force average crime rate. Anti-social behaviour has seen a more pronounced decline with numbers of incidents down by close to a fifth on last year.

Waste and recycling data is comparatively delayed compared to other sources of data used in this report. Whilst we have seen relatively lower quantities of waste collected, less waste is being sent for recycling, reuse or compost. Recycling contamination remains a regional issue, but the introduction of a new task force aimed at advancing the circular economy is expected to help improve this situation.

We continue to report largely positive performance on the measures relating to our housing services. We are fully compliant with regards to safety checks and housing stock meeting the decent homes standard. Our proportion of vacant or void housing stock remains low, however, the number of new homes constructed has fallen below the housing delivery test.

Performance Update

• The number of crimes reported in South Tyneside fell by 4% on last year. There were 15,068 crimes reported for the 2024/25 years as comapred to 15,759 in 2023/24. The overall rate of crime is 99 per 1,000 population, down from 104 in 2023/24. Force wide there was also a 4% decrease in the rate of crime, taking the Northumbria Police figure to 95 per 1,000.

  Violence against the person without injury was the most frequently reported crime in South Tyneside with 3,970 offences. This is a reduction on the figure reported for 2023/24 (4,225). South Tyneside saw increases in the numbers of theft and handling, burglary and drug related crimes comapred to the previous year.

• 3,674 incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported across the borough between April 1st and March 31st. This is a marked decrease on the previous year when 4,541 incidents were reported. The number of incidents is the lowest in the past 6 years. 77.6% of incidents related to adults rather than youth, with the number of youth related incidents falling by a quarter over the past year.

• The latest position for the tonnage of household waste collected is lower than the same time in the previous year. By the end of Quarter 3 46,277.114t of waste had been collected compared to 47,474.84t at the same point in 2023/24.

• 434.2kg of residual waste was produced per household up to the end of December 2024. This is an increase of 2% when compared to the same point in 2023/24. The projected year end figure for 2024/25 of 578.9kg would be lower than the most recent annual position (2023/24) for the region (607.0kg) but above the nation (467.2kg).

  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%.

• There has been a reduction in the proportion of waste which is recycled, reused or composted. At the end of Quarter 3 (latest data available) 28.7% of waste was recycled, reused or composted. This is 4.5% points lower than 33.2% reported at the end of the previous quarter. Whilst our position is better than the North East (27.4%), it is worse that the average for England (33.5%).

• 23.1% of recycling bins were contaminated as at Quarter 3 2024/25. This is a slight increase from 22.6% at Quarter 2 and above the year end 2023/24 position of 21.5%.

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

• 3,456 new trees were planted across the borough in 2024/25, while 480 were removed, resulting in a net gain of 3,066 trees. The definition of trees for this measure can include trees planted as single saplings as well as plants that become part of hedges. Although this figure is under the totals recorded in 2022/23 (4,181) and 2023/24 (4,024), it still exceeds the current annual target of planting 3,000 trees.

• 140 net new homes were provided during 2024/25. 71 net homes were provided in Quarter 4, above the position of 54 for Quarter 3. The latest annual figure is below last year (200) and lower than the most recent housing delivery test target of 309.

• 236 properties were void out of a total of 15,829. Voids account for 1.5% of total stock, lower than last quarter when the figure was 1.7%. Our latest figure is the lowest reported proportion since pre-COVID.

South Tyneside Council Housing Services

• The timeliness of emergency repairs throughout the year was high. 99.9% of emergency repairs were completed within the targeted timescale. This position is unchanged from the previous quarter. The latest annual figure is a continuation of last year's positive performance.

• The timeliness of non-emergency repairs was 91.9% for 2024/25. This is a slight reduction from 92.5% which was reported at the end of Quarter 3. The target for this emasure is currently 94%.

• 100% of our housing stock met the Decent Homes standard. This measure was reported via the Tenant Satisfaction Measurement Management Information.

• 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 4. We have continually reported full compliance for these measures since last year.

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter

• A 5-day Climate Summit was hosted by the Council in May, bringing together businesses, public sector organisations and community groups to help shape the next phase of the borough’s journey to Net Zero and inform the refresh of the Sustainable South Tyneside Strategy.
• Sandhaven Beach has once more been awarded a Seaside Award from leading environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy in recognition of its clean, safe, tidy beach and high bathing water quality standard.
• 29 new ultra-efficient homes set to be made available for social rent are being built across the new Reynolds Avenue, South Shields, and Lizard Lane, Marsden housing developments, following £2.79m in grant funding being secured through the Homes England Affordable Homes Programme.
• The 'Viking Energy Network Jarrow' was nominated for a Climate Action Award at the Keep Britain Tidy Conference in January 2025.
• South Tyneside Libraries were shortlisted as a Region and Country Finalist for the Library of the Year Award at the British Book Awards 2025.
• South Tyneside Council Housing Services were this year shortlisted in a range of categories at the Northern Housing Awards, including 'Best Repairs and Maintenance Services', 'Best Retrofit Initiative or Project', and 'Best Affordable Housing Development (up to £5 million)'.
• South Tyneside's Tenant Scrutiny Panel's Chairman, Tris Francis, was also shortlisted at the Northern Housing Awards 2025 as Tenant of the Year, in recognition of his work leading the panel, which carries out surveys, meets with customers to find out about their experiences, and speaks to staff about how they carry out their roles. The Panel has this year looked at services to tackle damp and mould and helped shape a dedicated service for customers focusing on customers diverse needs.
• Hindmarch Drive, the Council's new carbon-cutting new home development in Boldon, was named as a finalist at the 'Most Innovative New Build Scheme' at the 2025 Housing Innovation Awards.

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?

Over the last quarter, a range of work has continued in line with the Council’s new Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) Strategy, and it's three Equality 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

Internally, in support of these objectives, over the last quarter, work has been done to improve the use and quality of Equality Impact Assessments which support key Council and Cabinet decisions, training has been rolled out to support employers, partners and elected members in using the new online South Tyneside Data Observatory, and the roll out has begun of the new iTrent payroll system, which will support an improved understanding of workforce characteristics.

The Council’s various Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Employee Networks have also continued to grow, with a new Men’s Network and Early Careers Network holding their first meetings this quarter.

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

1. An ‘Emerald 55’ art installation commemorating the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots was hosted at The Word in February to help mark LGBTQ+ history month.
2. A wide range of local groups representing different parts of the community have this Spring been supported to take part in the inclusive South Shields Parade, with new participants this year including young LGBTQ+ people working with charity Waythrough, who have been working with artist to make float decorations, as well as local neurodivergent people engaged with Autism Able, who were supported to work with Kenyan performer Rapasa to make recycled instruments and learn Kenyan songs and dances.
3. South Tyneside is once more taking part in the 3-month long ‘Summer of Pride’ programme, which involves a series of inclusive events across Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead, with ‘Pride in South Tyneside’ events this year including a Film Festival, a ‘Pride Pooches’ dog show, a ‘Pride Beach Party’ and a market and march at the ‘Pride in Hebburn’ festival in Fountains Park, Hebburn
4. Working with the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner and Out North East, the Council is also supporting the ‘LGBTphobia Survey’, asking people taking part in the Summer of Pride Festival for their thoughts on safety and their experiences of intolerance, discrimination and exclusion due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, with the aim of better understanding the challenges local LGBTQ+ people can face.
5. South Tyneside’s Family Hubs encouraged families to come together to celebrate Refugee Week in June, hosting superhero-themed events in All Saints Family Hub and Hebburn Family Hub aimed at helping families build connections in their neighbourhoods.
6. Flags have been raised at South Shields Town Hall lit up to mark a range of important dates and campaigns in recent months, including International Women’s Day, International Day of Transgender Awareness and more.
7. The first meeting of the new multi-agency South Tyneside Community Tension Monitoring Group took place this Spring, bringing together partners to support community cohesion and tackle Hate Crime.
8. A new Veterans' Walk has been unveiled in North Marine Park, South Shields, to allow families to lay commemorative stones and pay tribute to the bravery of local servicemen and women who have served in the Armed Forces.

The ‘Targeting Support to Make Things Fairer’ ambition is also an important theme that runs throughout the Council’s budget and medium-term financial plan, which seeks to put fairness at its heart. The Council works to target resources and support at the residents and parts of the borough that need it most in an effort to reduce inequalities and make things fairer. As part of this work, in the last quarter, the Medium-Term Financial Plan for 2025-2030 has been agreed, prioritising support for those with the greater need, and work is now underway to consult upon and propose fair adjustments to a number of services, including special educational needs home to education transport as well as adult social care client contributions.

Spotlight on: Child Poverty

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, following on from our Child Poverty Summit, we have chosen to look closely at how characteristics including age, sex, and ethnicity affect experiences of child poverty.

What we know (as of Quarter 4 2024/25)...

Age-related inequalities

• Households with children have higher risks of poverty overall than households without children (30%, versus 21% for the whole population, Joseph Roundtree Foundation UK Poverty 2025 Report).
• 24% of children aged 0-4 living in England outside of London live in poverty (before housing costs), compared to 21% of children aged 5-9, and 20% of children aged 10-14 or young people aged 15-19. (Trust for London's London Poverty profile 2024).

Sex-related inequalities

• Boys who are eligible for free school meals tend to have poorer educational outcomes, including GCSE passes in English and Maths and % meeting expected standards in reading, writing and maths at 11 years, compared to their female counterparts (although boys in general also have poorer educational outcomes than their femal counterparts). (Social Mobility Commission 2024 Report).
• Boys on free school meals are the most at-risk group for both school suspensions and permanent exclusions (Department for Education, Autumn Term 2023/24 Exclusions Dataset).

Ethnicity-related inequalities

• In the UK, children from Asian and Black/African/Caribbean families are more likely to experience poverty comapred to white children (49% of children from these communities are in poverty, compared to 24% of white children). (Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) statistics, 2025)
• Between 2020/21 and 2022/23, 67% of Bangladeshi households with children and 61% of Pakistani households with children lived in poverty (Joseph Roundtree Foundation UK Poverty 2025 Report).

Disability-related inequalities (including Carer inequalities)

• Around 44% of children living in poverty are in households where someone is disabled (Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) statistics, 2025).
• Disabled people face a higher risk of poverty (30% of disabled people live in poverty, comapred to 20% of non-disabled people), partly due to the additional costs associated with disability and ill-health, and partly due to the barriers to work that disabled people face. (Joseph Roundtree Foundation UK Poverty 2025 Report)
• Informal carers are much more liekly than those with no caring responsibilities to be living in poverty (28% comapred with 20%, Joseph Roundtree Foundation UK Poverty 2025 Report).

Marriage-related inequalities

Lone-parent families (typically unmarried or separated) are disproportionately affected by poverty, with 43% of children in these families living in poverty, compared to 26% in two-parent families (Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) statistics, 2025).

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

Working with local partners through the South Tyneside Poverty Group, the Council’s dedicated Anti-Poverty Coordinator leads on a wide range of projects aimed at targeting support to children and families living with poverty, including ensuring support reaches families with children of different ages, families from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, families from different parts of the borough, and more.

A key aspect of this targeted support is the collaborative partnership approach with community groups and organisations who advocate to reduce inequalities. This ensures groups are well connected and aware of the work (and referral pathways) for other services enabling staff and volunteers to make ‘every contact count’ and families to receive timely and appropriate support.

Specific projects include:

• Compact for Race Equality South Tyneside (CREST) - working in collaboration with CREST to support the funding of an internet café enabling families from different ethnic backgrounds to access digital advice and support. Additional funding also increases capacity to help refugees, asylum seekers, new migrants and minority communities with signposting to information and advice, IT classes, language classes and support to access training and employment. Funding has also provided warm packs, food parcels and access to period products.
• Apna Ghar - partnership work includes the distribution of warm packs to BAME families, support with allocating vouchers to assist with food and collaboration of the Food Fair Project (including WHiST, Hospitality & Hope and South Tyneside Council) which aims to make healthy food more sustainable, affordable, and desirable, and acknowledges stark health inequalities linked to high deprivation.
• The 'Reducing the Cost of the School Day' programme - this includes a poverty awareness raising training sessions for staff and governors focused on the impact poverty can have and demographics more likely to be impacted. The audit tool highlights specific challenges facing cohorts, for example, substantial costs associated with raising a child with additional needs. The report suggests interventions that could be implemented to reduce pressures on families.
• School Workshops - an additional aspect of the schools’ programme involves workshops for families to be signposted to services providing support and reducing inequalities. Organisations in attendance include Citizen’s Advice, Key2Life Community, Northern Rights, Young Carers Team, First Contact Clinical and Groundworks. This collaborative approach ensures targeted support.
• Schools Discretionary Funding - In January 2025, all South Tyneside schools were allocated a discretionary pot of funding through the Household Support Fund (HSF), aimed at funding free school meals for children of families that are identified as struggling financially, but do not meet the Free School Meals eligibility criteria. Schools reported that a high proportion of this funding was allocated to single parent families and households where a parent or child has a disability.
• Efforts to increase uptake of Free School Meals (FSM) - a 'more than just a meal' social media campaign, with wording and messaging co-produced with local parents, was launched in early Summer. The campaign signposts families to the wider benefits of uptake of Free School Meals including potential food vouchers, uniform support, access to the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme and additional funding for schools. Letters have been circulated through schools encouraging families to contact the school to check their eligibility.
• Holiday Food - all local families with children entitled to free school meals received vouchers to support with food over the holiday periods. This equates to £10 per week/per child for all holidays and increased to £15 over the Christmas period. This offer enables 9,000 children on Free School Meals able to access food vouchers during school holidays.
• School Uniform Support - more than 1,000 families in South Tyneside whose children are starting or moving schools received extra financial help towards the cost of school uniform. Schools were also provided with a discretionary pot of funding to support families in need but not entitled to Free School Meals. Many schools used this funding to support families with no recourse to public funding.
• The 'Welfare Beyond the School gate' initiative - additional North East Combined Authority funding has enabled Citizen’s Advice to allocate a family worker to work within 12 schools providing support and financial advice to increase uptake of entitlements. From January 2025 to May 2025, 139 referrals have been made which has included debt and benefit advice and increased uptake of specific entitlements including Disability Living Allowance. This is a partnership approach between Citizen’s Advice and South Tyneside Council Welfare Support Team.
• Young Carers Commitments - developed to help education settings identify young carers and support them in connecting with vital support. This also includes a Young Carers ID card and other resources. South Tyneside are the first council in the country to sign and make a commitment to the Young Carers Covenant.
• Connexions South Tyneside - provides targeted and tailored support to young people who are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), aged 16-18 and up to 25 for those with SEND needs. All identified NEET young people have an allocated adviser who can offer support to enable them to access suitable education and training and reach their future goals.
• Signposting for schools - schools all receive monthly newsletters informing of funding available, services and activities for families. This enables schools to signpost to interventions that can support with benefit checks, energy bill reductions, uniforms, household equipment, Family Hubs and organisations that can assist with specific needs and target support.
• Care Leavers Packs - 200 care leavers have benefitted from support packs to help them navigate cost-of-living challenges while building independence and resilience.
• Targeted Campaigns - through collaborative partnership, campaigns focus on increasing uptake of entitlements. There are a significant number of unpaid carers across the borough who are more likely to be impacted by poverty than many other groups. A targeted campaign has raised awareness around the April 2025 changes to the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit encouraging families to check their eligibility.
• Baby Boxes - 200 additional baby boxes have been funded and are distributed through Midwives, Health Visitors and linking closely with the network of Family Hubs. These boxes are gifted to vulnerable families (particularly younger parents) who would benefit from additional support during those early months of their child’s development.
• Budget Bites - this is a family cookery programme funded through the Combined Authority. This builds on work already underway enabling further schools to engage in a free family cookery programme providing access to affordable, nutritious recipes and ingredients.

Other projects that are planned for the near future that will help children and young people experiencing poverty include: a trial of a project working with schools targeting ‘bed poverty’; a ‘Feeding Families’ programme providing immediate food boxes to households with people who are unable to access foodbanks (for example, those recently discharged from hospitals); and the expansion of the existing Holiday, Activities and Food Programme to an additional cohort (potentially targeting those with special educational needs or disabilities, care leavers, home-educated children, migrant and asylum families and others).

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:

• Metro to Washington Public Consultation - People who live and work in South Tyneside have been invited to community drop-in sessions across the borough in June and July to talk about and share their views on the proposed extension of the Metro line to Washington.
• Single Use Vapes Ban Consultation - The Council has consulted local people on the proposals around the use of fines, notices and other civil sanctions to enforce the law restricting the sale of single-use vapes. Local people were invited to have their say by contacting Trading Standards by 30th May 2025.
• The Customs House Refurbishment Consultation - Local people were invited to a consultation event in April to hear more about proposals to improve the rehearsal, events and food and drinks spaces at the Customs House, with proposals also shared online.
• Let's Talk Children's Services - Parents and carers who have had involvement with South Tyneside's Children and Families Services were invited to come and share their views and experiences as a drop-in event in South Shields Town Hall in early April that was aimed at helping the service to continue to listen, learn and improve.
• Adult Social Care Contributions Policy Proposals Consultation - Over Spring 2025, local people who use the Council's Adult Social Care services were asked, via surveys and engagement events, for their views on proposed changes to the client contributions policy.
• 599 Bus Survey - Local people were invited over Spring 2025 to share their views via an online questionnaire on the 599 Nexus bus service which was launched in Summer 2024 and links Sunderland Royal Hospital, the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP), the Nissan car plant, Sunderland City Centre and Jarrow and Hebburn Town Centres.
• 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.
• 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

The South Tyneside Data Observatory is a new website that brings together lots of publicly available data, research and evidence about South Tyneside into one place.

More 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.

Over 2025, the Council has been recognised with a range of awards and recognitions, including:

• Political Purpose Awards Green Council of the Year Award (Shortlisted)
• LGC Awards Public Health Award (Shortlisted)
• Northern Housing Awards Best Repairs and Maintenance Service (Shortlisted)
• Northern Housing Awards Best Retrofit Initiative or Project (Shortlisted)
• Northern Housing Awards Best Affordable Housing Development (up to £5 million) (Shortlisted)
• Northern Housing Awards Tenant of the Year (Shortlisted)
• Housing Innovation Awards Most Innovative New Build Scheme (Shortlisted)
• Keep Britain Tidy Awards Climate Action Award (Shortlisted)
• Keep Britain Tidy Awards Seaside Award

More information about the Council's recent Awards and Achievements is also regularly updated here.

Q1 / End of June 2025 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

September 24th 2025

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

December 2025/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.