Performance Update - Quarter 1 / End June 2025

This quarterly report, covering the period up to June 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 a comprehensive evidence review and stakeholder engagement.

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

We want all people in South Tyneside to be:

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

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

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

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

Cabinet has regular financial oversight through the Quarterly Budget Monitoring Report.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Population

• 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, higher than the regional and national average (62% and 61%).
• In 2022/23, 22.6% of children in Reception and 40.1% 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 1,000 people, compared to the national rate of 27.1 per 1,000 people.

Jobs and Skills

• South Tyneside's major strengths are in advanced manufacturing and the energy and offshore wind supply chain.
• 35% of the population aged 18+ has Level 4 (bachelor's degree level) or above qualifications, lower than regionally (39.4%) or nationally (47.2%).
• 9.8% of the local population have no qualifications, higher than the national average of 6.8%.
• 4 in 5 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 MultipleDeprivation 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. The IMD is due to be updated later in 2025).
• 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

• 31% of South Tyneside's working age population was economically inactive in the 12 months to March 2025, while North East and England-wide figures were 26% and 21.5% respectively.
• Median gross weekly pay in South Tyneside was £662.30 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.
• 9.5% of people aged 18-21 were claiming unemployment benefits in March 2025, compared to 6.4% regionally and 5.9% 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 larger proportion of people of all ages in South Tyneside receive benefits compared to the averages for both the North East and England.

Economic difficulties at both the local and national levels continue to affect residents, with many still feeling the strain of the cost-of-living crisis. Inflation, interest rates and energy prices all remain higher than a few years previously adding further strain to our residents.

• 4.9% of South Tyneside's 16 to 64 year old population were claiming out of work benefits, a total of 4,395 residents (16+). Our rate is the highest in the North East Combined Authority Area.

  Beacon and Bents, Biddick and All Saints, and Simonside and Rekendyke are the wards within the local authority with the highest rates 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.

• 9.8% of young people aged 18-21 were claiming benefits, a slight decrease from March 2025. South Tyneside's rate is higher than both the North East and England.

• 23,973 residents were claiming Universal Credit at the end of Quarter 1. This number has continued to rise. The proportion of universal credit claimants who are in employment has decreased slightly to 31.4%.

  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.

• The proportion of residents over 65 claiming pension credits has risen slightly to 16.2%.

  This follows initiatives to encourage uptake at both national and local levels following changes to Winter Fuel Allowance eligibility. The percentage of residents claiming pension credits is higher than the regional and national positions.

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• South Tyneside Council's pioneering Social Navigator Project was among just a handful of projects nationally selected to be showcased at the 'innovation zone' of the Local Government Association Conference 2025. Representatives from the Welfare Support team used the opportunity to share learning and advice on the innovative ‘social navigator’ approach, which removes traditional referral barriers and allows people to have direct access to debt advice, benefits support, and more, delivering significant financial and social benefits to residents.
• 48 providers across South Tyneside have offered activites across the six-week summer holidaus as part of the Holiday Activities and Food programme targeted at children eligible for Free School Meals, with over nearly 8,000 attendances recorded across the scheme.
• 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.
• 181 residents attended South Tyneside Housing Services Energy Roadshows over the first half of 2025, receiving advice and tips to reduce fuel costs and save energy.
• 36 schools have been provided with £2,500 each in discretionary funding to provide support for families struggling financially but not eligible for Free School Meals.
• Between April and July, two Citizens Advice Caseworkers funded through the Council's allocation of the Household Support Fund have assisted 875 people experiencing financial difficulties, helping them increase their income by an average of £1,832 per household.
• £27,000 has been secured to fund digital inclusion work across the borough including an internet cafe at CREST and increased digital support for people working with ACTS (Age Concern Tyneside South), Action Stations, Big Local Jarrow, Northern Rights, Salvation Army and WHIST (Women's Health in South Tyneside).

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

Quarter 1 has seen the continuation of a reduction in referrals accepted into Children’s Social Care, further demonstrating the result of our ‘front door’ approach and a greater proportion of contact receiving support through our Early Help service. Rates of Referrals, Children in Need and Children Care For have declined over the past quarter. Our rate of Child Protection Plans has increased marginally but remains somewhat below the North East average.

Children becoming subject to a plan for a second or further time continues to be a concern, despite a fall on Quarter 4’s position, and the number of repeats within 2 years continues to be around 16%. However, the position for the majority of measures above points to positive work being completed by the service, something that has been reflected in recent monitoring visits by Ofsted.

The number of Education, Health and Care plans continues to rise. This is in line with national trends of greater demand for these plans for young people.

• Referrals in Children’s Services

  The rate of referrals into Children’s Social Care has continued to decline this quarter, maintaining the trend seen in 2024/25. As at June 30th the referral rate stood at 498.2 per 10,000 0-17 year olds, 5.6% down from the March figure of 519.0. South Tyneside remains below the regional average (598.8) but slightly above the national rate (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 increased slightly to 16.8% as compared to 15% at the end of 2024/25.

  * Our statistical neighbours / similar areas are as follows;
  North East: Sunderland, Redcar and Cleveland, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Durham, 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 jsut changed so rates will not match previous reports.

• Children in Need

  There were 1,188 Children in Need at the end of June 2025. The rate of Children in Need, 396.7, is a decrease from March (419.0). South Tyneside's rate remains below the North East (467.2) and our statistical neighbours (485.5), but above the national rate of 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

  At the end of June, 155 children were subject to a Child Protection Plan, 1 more than at the end of March. The rate of Child Protection Plans was 51.8 per 10,000 children, showing a slight increase from the March figure of 51.0 but a clear decrease from the 2023/24 year end position of 78.4.. South Tyneside's rate is below the North East (68.1) and our statistical neighbours (67). The national rate is lower than ours at 42%.

• Child Protection Plan Starts

  50 children became subject to Child Protection Plans in Quarter 1 2025/26, at a rate of 66.8 per 10,000 0-17 year olds. This is a reduction on the 2024/25 year end position of 78.8 and remains below the the North East (90.7) and statistical neighbours (94.8) but above the England rate of 51.8.

• % Repeat Child Protection Plans

  The proportion of Repeat Child Protection Plans has decreased over the last quarter. At the end of June, 30.4% of plans which started in the previous uear were a repeat plan, down from 32.6% at year end 2024/25. This represents an increase of 4.2 percentage points compared to 2023/24 (26.2%) and remains above the North East (25.3%), statistical neighbours (23.4%) and England (22.2%).

  16.3% of plans were within 2 years of a previous plan ending, down slightly from 16.6% at year end 2024/25. Our position is higher than the regional figure of 10.2%. 11 repeat plans within 2 years started during Quarter 1.

• Children Cared For

  The rate of Children Cared For was 97.8 per 10,000 children, down slightly from 98.0 in March. South Tyneside's rate is below the North East average (117.1), but above both the national rate (67) and our statistical neighbours (128.1).

• Children Becoming Cared For

  The rate of children becoming Cared For at the end of June was 40.1, a decrease from March (42.7). This marks a continued downward trend and is lower than the 2023/24 rate of 46.5.. South Tyneside's rate remains below the North East (46) and our statistical neighbours (49.1) but is still higher than the national rate of 28 per 10,000.

• Adoptions

  17% of children who left care during Quarter 1 were adopted. This is an increase on 2024/25 (14%) and on 2023/24 (14.6%). Our latest position is higher than the North East (13.6%), England (12%) and statistical neighbours (10%).

• EHCP Plans

  The number of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) continues to rise, reaching 1,881 open plans by the end of June. This is a 3.2% increase compared to the end of the 2024/25 financial year (1,823), and an 8.2% rise from the 2023/24 total of 1,739. This figure includes young people above school age, up to 25 years old.

Major Projects and Programmes Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• The Children’s Services improvement journey is progressing well, with the latest 6-month review with the Department for Education in July going well and a positive Ofsted Monitoring visit in May focusing on the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub and the impact of Leadership and Management on social work practice. The inspectors’ report observed that children in need of help or protection 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.
• Children and young people eligible for benefit-related free school meals have once more been able to attend free food and activity sessions across South Tyneside throughout the 2025 summer holidays, with activities available ranging from football to yoga and surfing.
• Thousands of children and families have made the most of the fun-filled summer programme that has been run at the Council’s Family Hubs over the school holiday period, with activities from sports days to teddy bears picnics on offer to help keep children active and engaged.
• The important role played by grandparents and greatgrandparents was celebrated locally with a range of multigenerational family activities hosted at Family Hubs across South Tyneside, including arts and crafts, songs and stories to mark Global Intergenerational Week in April.

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

As a borough with an ageing population and relatively high deprivation there is a higher demand for adult social care on South Tyneside. There has been a slight reduction in the number of people with a commissioned service across Quarter 1. The rate of admissions to care has increased. On a positive note, the Care Quality Commission ratings for a clear majority of the care providers used by the Council are ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.

The Living Better Lives Strategy, developed in collaboration with local partners, social care professionals, and residents who access care and support, is focused on helping people live as independently as possible in their own homes for aslong as they can. The strategy is driven by six priorities; each designed to support and achieve this overarching goal.

• Number of people with Commissioned Services

  The number of people with a Commissioned Service decreased slightly from 2,933 in Quarter 4 to 2,913 in Quarter 1. This is below the Quarter 2 figure of 3,007 and the 2023.24 year-end total of 3,042. These figures include individuals whose services are funded either fully by the local authority or entirely by health services. 2,751 people were receiving services that were partially or fully funded by the local authority, down from 2,764 in March.

  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

  75 people aged over 65 and over were admitted to residential care. The rate of admissions has risen to 920.4 per 100,000, a notable icnrease from 812.5 at year end 2024/25. The current rate is above both the regional and national positions of 710.1 and 566 respectively.

• Admissions of people aged 18-64 to residential care

  There were 4 admissions to care of people aged 18-64 in Quarter 1. The rate of admissions, 18.1 per 100,000, is a little lower than at year end 2024/25 (18.3). Our positions are higher than the regional (17.1) and national (15.2) positions.

• People in long-term residential placements

  833 people were in long term residential, or nursing placements funded by the Council at the end of Quarter 1, an increase on year end 2024/25 (801) and 2023/24 (789). This position excludes individuals fully funded by health services.

• People in short-term residential placements

  There were 80 individuals in short-term placements, which is 28% lower than at the end of Quarter 4 2024/25 (11). 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. 2024/25 data will be published by the government at the end of 2025.

• Provider Ratings

  92.2% of the providers of residential care, domiciliary care, extra care, specialist care, complex care and supported living, were rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission. This is a drop from the position at year end 2024/25 of 97.7%. Three providers were rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ and one has not yet been inspected under the current CQC regime.

The criteria for defining short and long term care placements have been revised to align with the Client Level Data set. As a result of this change, some individuals previously classified under short-term placements were reclassified as receiving long-term care.

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.

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• New residents have now moved into the 21 new specialist supported living apartments and bungalows for people with learning disabilities, autism and complex care needs that have been delivered at the Hedgeley Road Hebburn, and Concorde Way, Jarrow.
• Inspectors from the Quality Care Commission undertook an on-site assessment visit to South Tyneside Adult Social Care and Commissioning over early April. Coming after motnhs of preparation and hard work from staff, elected members, porviders and partners, the visit has been an important opportunity to showcase the innovative and collaborative work that is done locally with residents who have care and support needs.
• Planning permission has been granted for 124 new Extra Care apartments for people with differing levels of care and support needs, including 25 apartments for people living with dementia, to be built on the site of the former Chuter Ede school and Chuter Ede Community Association. The specialist accommodation, which will help people to live independently for longer, will also have a central courtyard, multi-use spaces for activities and a bistro cafe, which will be open to the public.
• More than 120 professionals and 150 residents attended 'ConnectFest', 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.
• This summer saw the South Tyneside Care Academy offer 15 local young people aged 18-24 the opportunity to take part in the 3-day Social Care Summer School and gain a range of qualifications and support to gain employment in the local adult and social care work force.

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

Domestic abuse continues to be a concern on South Tyneside with the rate consistently high for the area covered by Northumbria Police. This continual growth of our number of leisure memberships has continued with this quarter’s figure representing a further record highest number. The proportion of mothers smoking at the time of delivery has decreased and is now much lower than 2017 when an incentive schemes to reduce smoking were introduced.

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-harmand health life expectancy) and more detailed information, on topics ranging from frailty and dementia to births andfertility, can be found in the online South Tyneside Joint Strategic Needs and Assets Assessment.

• Domestic Abuse Incidents

  Between April and June 2025, Northumbria Police recorded 1,319 domestic abuse incidents in South Tyneside, equating to a quarterly rate of 10.6 per 1,000 population. This projects an estimated annual rate of 42.4 incidents per 1,000 people aged 16 or over which is not a significant change from year end 2024/25. South tyneside continues to have the highest rate among local authorities within the Northumbria Police area, depsite recording the lowest number of offences.

  Children were involved in 44.5% of reported incidents (587 cases), a slight decrease compared to the end of 2024/25. Across the force area 43% of all cases involved a child. The majority of victims in South Tyneside were female (74.4%), and half were repeat victims, an icnrease from 41% in 2024/25 and 44% in 2023/24. Force-wide, repeat victims accounted for 47% of all incidents.

  * 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. The annualised rates are estimated based on the average of the available quarterly data multiplied by four.

  Restart, our in-house domestic abuse service, works with victims, children, and perpetrators. Police notifications of all high-risk domestic abuse related incidents are referred into Restart to enable follow up with the Victim to offer risk assessment, safety planning and support. Restart also receive referrals from Children’s and adult social care via the multi-agency safeguarding Hub (MASH), as well as other partners. For quarter one 2025/26, Restart has provided support to 149 victims and accepted10 perpetrators referrals onto the behaviour change programme.

  Restart are working with the Police as an extension of the integrated hub. Proactive work is ongoing to work with perpetrators and victims to reduce the harm, safeguard the victim and take appropriate action against the perpetrator. This aims raise confidence in the community to report domestic abuse and access support. Although the rates remain high there is significant work happening on the ground to tackle the issue. However significant reduction in the rates will take time, to change attitudes, behaviours and break the cycle of abuse.

• Mothers smoking at time of delivery

  In 2024/25, 8.6% of women were recorded as smoking at the time of delivery - the lowest rate to date, continuing a steady decline since 2014/15.

  In response to high smoking rates during pregnancy, with one in five women affected at the time, the Public Health team introduced a one-year pilot incentive scheme in 2017. The pilot proved effective and was subsequently adopted as standard practice. Since then, ongoing collaboration between Public Health and the local NHS Trust has led to further improvements, including streamlined referral processes and support to help pregnant women quit smoking, promoting better health for both mother and baby.

• Leisure centre usage

  Our leisure centres has 11,487 membersat the end of June. Whilst the rise on March (11,371) is relatively small, this does represent a new highest total. 45% of members were concessions, in line with 2024/25.

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• More than £180,000 is being invested into refurbishing public tennis courts in 5 parks across South Tyneside, following the Coucnil securing funding from the Lawn Tennis Association, the national governing body for tennis, aimed at engaging more people in the sport.
• New lighting has been isntalled along the Coast Road to help improve the safety, accessibility and year-round usability of cyclists using one of the Borough's most popular active travel schemes.
• A new 'Open Doors' monthly drop-in session has been launched at the South Tyneside Adult Recovery Service at Cookson House in South Shields, aimed at inviting more people to ask questions about addiction recovery services and receive support.
• The Council's Adult Recovery Service has signed up to a new Hepatitis C Action Plan, to help mark World Hepatitis Day in July, committing to further increase testing for Hepatitis C and improve treatment and support for people with the virus, which is commonly spread through blood-to-blood contact such as sharing needles.
• This Spring saw the Council receive an update report on suicide prevention planning work that is underway locally, with the report highlighting the importance of supporting families impacted and taking a holistic review to prevention, including working with children and young people to help reduce childhood trauma.

Homelessness

Performance Update

Homelessness is a continuing worry across the borough, with a growing number of individuals and families seeking support from the council over the past year. Contributing factors include the end of private tenancies, domestic abuse, relationship breakdowns, and families being unable to offer accommodation.

Although the number of rough sleepers has remained steady compared to the previous quarter, South Tyneside still reports lower rough sleeping rates than larger urban areas across Tyne and Wear. Strategies have been implemented to focus on homelessness and housing services have kept levels of vacant properties low.

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 969 presentationjs to the Council's homelessness service during Quarter 1. A slight increase on the total during Quarter 4 2024/25 (946) and 26% higher than the same period last year (770). Homelessness presentations have risen considerably over the past few years.

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

• Rough Sleeping

  4 individuals were sleeping rough at the end of June. This position is unchanged from year end 2024/25 and 2023/24.

  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 five-year Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy for South Tyneside was launched in July. The Strategy, which highlights the need for a more inclusive and preventative system and emphasises the role of services from schools to GPs and housing providers in catching people before they find themselves homeless, has been shaped by a comprehensive review and extensive consultation with local partners, service providers and people who have experienced homelessness.
• 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 reengage 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 accomodation 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 finding 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 UK economy is facing challenges like rising prices, high interest rates, and slow growth. The North East, including South Tyneside, has struggled more than other parts of the country. Unemployment and people not working have been higher here than in nearby areas. One of the main reasons people aren’t economically active is long-term illness.

Our levels of young people aged 16- 17 in employment, education and training are higher than our regional and national comparators.

• Employment

  In the 12 months to March 2025 64.5% of South Tyneside residents aged 16-64 were in employment, this is not statistically signifcantly different from the previous quarter's position. South Tyneside continues to have the lowest employment rate in the North East, where the regionala verage stands at 70.7%, and remains significantly below the national rate of 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. There have not been any large-scale redundancies or major movements in the labour market locally.

• Unemployment

  The model based unemployment rate in the 12 months up to March 2025 was 5.9%. This is a 0.2% point increase on the figure at Decemeber 2024. South Tyneside is above the regional (4.4%) and national (4%) positions. The national position has increased slowly from 3.7% over the past five periods.

• Economic Inactivity

  28,500 (31%) 16-64 year olds were economically inactive in the 12 months to March 2025 (latest data available). This is a decrease of 0.4% points*. South Tyneside's position on this measure has been consistently above 25% of the wroking age population since the figure at September 2022. Whilst we cannot say that our rate is statistically significantly higher than the region, we are significantly worse than the national position of 21.2%.

  Long term sickness continues to be the most prominent reason given for economic inactivity.

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

• Young People NEET

  5.4% of 16 and 17 year olds were Not in Employment, Education or Training. This is up 0.2% on the 2024/25 year end figure. The proportion of young people who are NEET is below the North East average of 6.9% and National average of 5.6%.

• Care Leavers EET

  At the end of June 2025 73.2% of our care leavers aged 19-21 were in employment, education or training, down by 1.5% points as compared to March. We remain higher than both the regional and national positions of 54.8% and 56% respectively (both from Mrch 2024, latest data available).

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• Businesses from across the borough - including Port of Tyne, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, HVR International and UK Docs Marine Services - came together in July in an event at South Shields Town Hall to explore how the business community can better support people with health conditions in the workplace and play their part in tackling economic inactivity. The session, which was part of the ‘Building a Stronger SouthTyneside’ campaign, highlighted new regional initiatives such as the Connect to Work scheme, Economic Inactivity Trailblazer, and Health and Growth Accelerator, and introduced the new SHINE Employer Accreditation, which recognises businesses that lead with fairness, opportunity and respect.
• Delegates from South Tyneside Council’s Business and Investment team attended the UKREiiF (the annual UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum) in May, joining forces with NECA and neighbouring North East local authorities as part of a unified approach to promoting the region, and showcasing local investment opportunities (including at the River Tyne Corridor and International Advanced Manufacturing Park) to national and international developers.
• 30 more students from South Tyneside, Redcar and Cleveland and East Riding of Yorkshire and who are studying in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are being offered the chance of a scholarship funded by Dogger Bank Wind Farm, as part of the fifth round of its scholarship programme, which aims to support young people and communities near to its construction and operational bases.
• A Business Talk at One Trinity Green in May on 'the screen industry in South Tyneside' shared insights and opportunities from regional television and film industry insiders with local creatives and businesses.
• Minister for Local Growth, Alex Norris, in July visited projects in South Shields and Hebburn set to benefit from the transformative £20 million Community Regeneration Partnership developed with residents, community groups, local businesses and leaders.
• A new 125-unit student accommodation development at One Harton Quay has received planning permission, adding to wider plans to relocate South Tyneside College and South Shields Marine School to South Shields and boost footfall and momentum in the town.
• 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.

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

Recent positive trends in community safety have continued with rates of anti-social behaviour dropping further from year end 2024/25. Whilst there has been a slight increase in the rate of crime our figure is lower than the same time last year.

Waste and recycling data is comparatively delayed compared to other sources of data used in this report. There has been a slight decrease in the total tonnage of waste connected, however, less waste is being recycled, reused or composted and levels of contaminated recycling bins have continued to rise.

Performance across our housing services remains strong. All required safety checks are up to date, and our housing stock continues to meet the decent homes standard. The proportion of vacant or void properties remains low. The number of new homes constructed during Quarter 1 is a marked rise on previous quarters.

• 3,850 crimes were reported during Quarter 1. The rate of crime, 102 per 1,000 population has increased to 102 from 99 at year end 2024/25. Our rate is above the average for the Northumbria Police Force Area (97). Violence against the person without injury was again the most prevalent crime in the borough.

• There were 817 incidents of anti-social behaviour reported between April and June. This is 30% lower than the same time last year when 1,163 incidents were reported. Our latest position is a continuation of positive recent trends on this measure. 72.9% of ASB incidents in Quarter 1 involved adults rather than youth.

• 599,095.90 tonnes of household waste was produced and collected during 2024/25.

• 527.87kg of residual waste was produced per household in 2024/25, showing a slight increase of 0.2% compared to 2023/24 (571.69kg). South Tyneside's figure remains below the most recent regional average (606.98kg) but above the national average (467.18kg).

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

• The proportion of waste that was recycled, reused or composted in 2024/25 was 30%, a decrease of 1.4% points comapred to 2023/24 (31.4%). While South Tyneside's performance remains slightly above the North East average (29.8%), it continues to fall short of the national average (39.8%).

• During the 2024/25 financial year, 22.56% of recycling bin waste was contaminated, represented a 1.04 percentage point icnrease comapred to 2023/24.

  Contamination in recycling remains a regional issue, and the introduction of a dedicated task force aimed at advancing the circular economy is expected to help improve this measure over time.

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

• In 2024/25, a total of 3,456 new trees were planted across the borough, while 480 were removed, resulting in a net increase of 3,066 trees. Although this is slightly belore the figures recorded in 2022/23 (4,181) and 2023/24 (4,024), it still surpasses the annual target of planting 3,000 trees, reflecting continued progress in enhancing the borough's green spaces. The vast majority of trees planted by the council are whip trees between 1m and 1.5m in height. 3,400 whips were planted in addition to 146 standard trees between 2m and 3m tall.

• 122 net new homes were provided in South Tyneside during Quarter 1. This is a significant increase on the same point last year when just 9 new homes were provided. 140 new homes were provided across the entirety of 2024/25.

• 1.6% of properties were void out (261 of 15,820 properties), a slight increase on Quarter 4 2024/25 (1.5%).

South Tyneside Council Housing Services

• Timeliness for emergency repairs rose to 99.98% from 99.63% at year end 2024/25.

• The timeliness of non-emergency repairs was 98.27% for Quarter 1. This is an improvement from March when the reported figure was 91.89%. The target for this measure is currently 94%.

• 100% of our housing stock met the Decent Homes standard. This measure was reported via the Tenant Satisfaction Measure Management Information and is unchanged from year end 2024/25.

• At the end of Quarter 1, all required landlord safety inspections which had been completed demonstrated full compliance with industry standards. The checks include gas services, fire risks, asbestos, passenger lifts, and electrical systems in all applicable homes. This is a continuation of last year’s position, and we have consitently maintained full compliance with these standards.

Major Projects Underway

Highlights from the last Quarter:

• South Tyneside Council has been shortlisted for the Green Council of the Year Award at the Political Purpose Awards 2025 in recognition of the Council's commitment to environmental initiatives and sustainability.
• 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.
• Six South Tyneside parks - Readhead Park, South Marine Park, and North Marine Park in South Shields, and Monkton Dene Park and West Park in Jarrow - have once again been awarded coveted Green Flag status from environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, recognising them as some of the finest green spaces in the country, and as beautifully maintained, with the highest environmental standards, and top-quality visitor facilities.
• 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.
• The Council has been named as a finalist in the 2025 Association of Public Excellence (APSE) Service Awards for the 'Best Service Team of the Year: Waste, Recycling and Streetscene' award category.
• Thousands turned out to march in and cheer on the 2025 Summer Parade in May, which saw local community groups accompanied by music and displays make through way through South Shields Town Centre before enjoying free activities, performances and a craft fair and food village at Bents Park. The theme this year was environment and sustainability and in support of this a new ‘The Whale: Plastic Ocean’ exhibition invited visitors to squeeze into the body of an inflatable whale to learn about sea creatures and a new sustainability area helped involve residents in live cookery demonstrations, food tasting and advice on how to live a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.
• More Blue Plaques have been unveiled across South Tyneside, with the latest memorials marking the legacy of the MacGregor brothers, Robert and Joseph, who revolutionised maritime safety and cargo handling with their MacGregor steel hatch cover which helped shops survive torpedo attacks during World War Two.
• Individuals, community groups and businesses who have played a critical role in promoting civic pride and community spirit across 2025 were celebrated at the annual #LoveSouthTyneside Awards in July, with awards handed out to 10 winners and a wide range of runners-up and nominees also recognised for their passion and hard work.

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 performance and outcomes in this area

Over the last quarter, a range of work has been continued in line with the Council's 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 new training sessions on Equality Impact Assessments have been offered to officers across the Council with a role in supporting Council and Cabinet decision making, a celebration event attracting 120+ employees took place over summer to promote and celebrate the work of the Council’s Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Staff Networks, and planning has begun on another Hate Crime Awareness Week ‘From Adversity to Diversity’ event themed around ‘Online Hate’ which will be combined with a Partnership Summit to help partners reflect on how they can learn from each other in tackling inequalities.

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

• South Tyneside showed its support for the Armed Forces community by marking Armed Forces Day, 22nd June, with a seafront military parade and action-packed family fun day in Bents Park.
• Professionals across South Tyneside, including social workers and other frontline officers, took part in the Al Azhar Community Engagement Day in June, which saw representatives from the local Muslim community share insights about their religion.
• A wide range of local groups representing different parts of the community were supported to take part in the inclusive South Shields Parade, with new participants this year including young LGBTQ+ people working with charity Waythrough and local neurodivergent people engaged with Autism Able.
• A wide range of 'Pride in South Tyneside' events supported by Out North East took place this summer to mark LGBTQ+ Pride, 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.
• The 'Visit South Tyneside' website recently passed its Cabinet Office website accessibility inspection, confirming that information and services are user-friendly and accessible for people with different devices and needs, including those using assistive technology.

Spotlight on: Alcohol

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 Make Things 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 themes and service areas.

For this report we have chosen to look closely at how characteristics including age, sex and socio-economic status affect alcohol use and alcohol-related harm.

What we know

Alcohol is very harmful to our health. It’s classified as a Group 1 carcinogen, which means it is as dangerous as asbestos, radiation, and tobacco. It can cause over 200 diseases and health issues, including liver and heart diseases, at least 7 types of cancer, and mental health problems.

Alcohol-related harm in South Tyneside is worse than average for the North East and England. Unfortunately, we know that alcohol-related harm disproportionately impacts certain groups across the population in South Tyneside. As a result, we have identified ‘reducing health inequalities’ as one of our priority areas within South Tyneside’s Alcohol Strategy ‘Calling the Shots’.

Disproportionate impacts of Alcohol-Related Harm (Health Inequalities)

Socio-economic status

People in deprived communities often suffer more from alcohol-related problems. They are up to six times more likely to die from liver disease caused by alcohol than those in wealthier areas. This is known as the ‘alcohol harm paradox’. It means that even if people in deprived areas drink the same or less alcohol than those in wealthier areas, they still face more harm. This is due to factors like drinking patterns, access to healthcare, and social inequalities.

Age

• In England, for people aged 15 to 49, alcohol is now the leading risk factor for ill-health, early death and disability. It’s the fifth leading risk factor for ill health across all age groups. A recent report found that people aged 55-64 drink the most, likely due to life changes such as retirement, fewer opportunities to socialise, loss of loved ones, or financial changes.
• In England, older people (65+) have the highest number of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions. However, in South Tyneside, admissions increase with age until 40-64 years (1350 per 100,000 people) and then decrease for those 65+ (1192 per 100,000 people). South Tyneside has higher alcohol-related hospital admissions than the England average for all age groups.

Sex

• Worldwide, more men drink alcohol than women, and when they do, men usually drink more. This trend is also seen in the United Kingdom, where the death rate from alcohol for men in 2021 was about double that of women.
• In South Tyneside, men show higher rates than women in most alcohol-related outcomes. The only exception is for young people under 18, where more females are admitted for conditions related to alcohol.
• With that said, it is important to highlight that there has been a significant increase in the admission episodes for alcohol-specific conditions and alcohol-related conditions for females in the last reporting period (2023-24). There has also been an increase in the number of women dying from alcohol-related liver disease in England over the past 20 years. Since 2003, deaths from this disease have increased by 61.3%, with a 53.7% rise in men and a 76.9% rise in women. More women than men have been admitted to the hospital for this condition over the past 10 years.

Vulnerable Groups

We also know there are a range of vulnerable groups who often experience greater impacts of alcohol-related harm, this includes:

• Children and young people
• Domestic abuse, both perpetrators and victims
• Individuals with mental health conditions
• LGBTQ+
• Carers (including young carers)
• Veterans
• Individuals experiencing homelessness and,
• Neurodivergent people

You can find out more information on how alcohol-related harm impacts these groups by reading the Council's Alcohol Strategy.

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

Extensive work has been carried out to refresh South Tyneside's Alcohol Strategy for the period of 2025-2030. The development of the strategy shows our commitment to reducing alcohol-related harm in South Tyneside.

Our vision is to create an environment where people drink less alcohol throughout their lives.

The strategy focuses on six key areas:

1. Preventing and early intervention of alcohol misuse
2. Protecting children and young people, aiming for an alcohol-free childhood
3. Reducing health inequalities
4. Providing quality, safe, and effective treatment
5. Tackling alcohol-related stigma
6. Improving community safety

An alcohol strategy action plan has been developed, whcih will work alongside the alcohol strategy to deliver on a range of commitments over the next 5 years. This will be driven by South Tyneside's Alcohol Strategy Group and will report into the Living Well Alliance, all the way up to South Tyneside's Health and Wellbeing Board.

Some examples of specific projects that will take place over the next 12 months include:

• Alcohol Licensing Matrix - South Tyneside’s Alcohol Licensing Task & Finish Group are in the process of developing an Alcohol Licensing Matrix, similar to that of Leeds and Newcastle, which uses several datasets to demonstrate where a locality is at risk of health harms from licensing activity by ranking geographical areas against each other through the comparison of different data sets. This approach will enable Responsible Authorities to take an evidence-based approach to licensing representations and ensure that health inequality data is considered within the licensing application process (although recognising that there are significant challenges in the absence of a Public Health objective within The Licensing Act).
• Targeted Approach to Balance's 'Alcohol is Toxic' campaign - Working with Balance, we will localise the award winning ‘Alcohol is Toxic’ campaign to include information which signposts directly to our drug and alcohol treatment service (South Tyneside Adult Recovery Service (STARS)). In addition to this, we will be working with our communications team to ensure the campaign is specifically targeted in areas of deprivation and wards where hospital admissions are the highest, to ensure it is reaching those most in need.
• Research & Engagement - We will continue to use insights carried out by Balance, such as audience segmentation and public perception research to inform our work program. We will also explore commissioning some further qualitive insights to build on our local understanding of how alcohol related harm differs between population groups in the community and develop a stronger understanding of the barriers into alcohol treatment.
• Partnership Working - We will continue to build on South Tyneside’s Alcohol Strategy Group to ensure there is representation from key partners across the system including representatives from domestic abuse, community safety and mental health. Outside of the Alcohol Strategy Group, we will continue to raise the profile of alcohol across key partnerships including South Tyneside Substance Misuse Partnership, Community Safety Partnership, Domestic Abuse Board and Children and Adults’ Safeguarding Board to ensure alcohol is prioritised across a number of work programmes.
• Services and Support
  • Our Public Health commissioned adult recovery service, STARS (South Tyneside Adult Recovery Services), provides tailored interventions for those struggling with alcohol. Within the service there is a dedicated alcohol team and pathway. This is overseen by the specialist Alcohol Nurse and together with specialist Recovery Workers, with clients assessed in line with national alcohol use guidelines. The team also liaise with Primary Care colleagues and provide support to the wider recovery workforce. Recovery workers also work closely with those experiencing multiple disadvantages, complex presentation, mental health issues and poor physical health. This strengthens the alcohol pathway and aims to increase the numbers of clients accessing community detox.
  • Our young people’s service, Matrix, provides support for those under the age of 18 with substance misuse challenges. The service works closely with partners, parents and schools in promoting an alcohol-free childhood. The service works closely with STARS in facilitating a seamless and support transition from young person’s service to adult service.

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:

• Housing Strategy Consultation – Partners and residents have been invited to share their views on housing in the borough, including how many homes are needed and of what types, how to support vulnerable groups, and how to improve existing housing and make neighbourhoods better. The last day to have your say is Friday 3rd October 2025.
• Local Plan Stage One Public Hearings – Stage one of the public hearing sessions for the Local Plan examination took place over the 8th to the 17th of July. The hearings are to help the independent inspector, appointed by the government, to determine if the Draft Local Plan is well-prepared and justified, after it was not endorsed by Full Council earlier in 2020.
• Tenancy Fraud Policy Consultation – The Council is designing a new Tenancy Fraud Policy to help promote fairness and equal access to housing and ensure that Council homes are allocated to those in genuine need. Tenants are invited to share their views by 1st October 2025.
• Childcare Sufficiency Consultation - As of July 2025, the Council has invited feedback from parents and carers with children of all ages, as well as early education and childcare providers, providers of wraparound or holiday childcare, and local employers, as part of its annual Childcare Sufficiency Assessment, which aims to gather important information about childcare availability, accessibility and affordability in the local South Tyneside area in order to support providers in planning and responding to family requirements. Share feedback here.
• School Safety Camera Enforcement Survey - The Council is introducing camera enforcement outside some local schools to improve road safety and protect children. Local schools, residents, parents and guardians are invited to look at plans and share early feedback by 31st December.
• Interim Review of Polling Districts, Places and Stations - Following the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s Electoral Review of South Tyneside, the Council carried out a review of local polling districts, places and stations. Residents were invited to view the list of changes being considered and share comments with the elections team by 29th August.
• Pharmacy Needs Assessment Survey - Following collecting local views earlier in the year on local pharmacy provision, the Council has developed a new draft Pharmacy Needs Assessment report and is seeking final feedback before the Assessment is published on 1st October 2025.
• Metro to Washington Public Consultation - People who live and work in South Tyneside were 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 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 at 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.
• Digital Champions Panel - 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 Digital Champions panel - have your say on digital services and websites.

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

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
• APSE Service Awards Best Service Team of the Year: Waste Recycling and Streetscene (Finalist)

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

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

10th December 2025 & 15th january 2026

Q3 / End of December 2025 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

March/April 2026 (Exact Date TBC)

Q4 / End of March 2026 Quarterly Report to Cabinet

June/July 2026 (Exact Date TBC)

Care Leaver

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

Care Leavers EET

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

Child in Need

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

Child Protection

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

Child Protection Plan

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

Children Cared For

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

Children's Residential Homes

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

Claimant rate

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

Commissioned service

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

Community shops

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

CQC

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

Economically Active

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

Education Health and Care Plan / EHCP

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

Employment rate

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.