In the North East, our child poverty statistics are particularly bleak. We have the highest rate of absolute and relative child poverty in the country.
Over the past three years the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) has been working with our constituent local authorities of Newcastle, Northumberland, and North Tyneside to deliver a programme that addresses this ongoing issue.
Most research on child poverty points to the need for moving beyond mitigation. NTCA officers have worked with stakeholders and academics to develop a programme that acknowledges some of the underlying issues, while also addressing the 'here and now' symptoms of poverty.
Tackling poverty in the workplace
70% of the children living in poverty in the North East live in a working household. In a bid to look beyond immediate mitigation, one focus of NTCA's programme seeks to drive down poverty in the workplace.
Working collaboratively, our delivery partner Society Matters developed a powerful framework of 50 ways in which North East employers can reduce the impact of poverty for their workforce. Thirty-five employers have undergone a poverty audit and have bespoke action plans in place to support employees.
While higher wages are a key factor in this issue, employers are also feeling the bite of the increased cost of living, so these workplace strategies need to be appropriate and proportional.
Some approaches adopted by employers include fundamental changes to their contractual terms and approaches to flexible working, provision of advice and guidance, and access to facilities and food.
Poverty Interventions in Schools
Focus one of the programme ‘Poverty Interventions in Schools’ is unashamedly mitigation. It offers schools access to the Poverty Proofing programme developed by Children North East, family learning sessions, and funds schools to develop in-house projects from inclusive outdoor play and learning, to breakfast clubs and cultural ‘passports’ for pupils.
The balance between addressing underlying issues (workplace poverty) and mitigation at the sharp-end has been key to local credibility of the programme.
Another challenge has been the scale of investment. NTCA has committed, for the last two years, around £1 million per year to support 90-120 schools and 45 employers. This does not – and cannot - meet demand or truly mitigate all of the symptoms of poverty for the children we work with.
Funding constraints meant the programme needed to absolutely avoid duplication and work in concert with existing efforts; from constituent authorities, academy trusts, schools, children's centres, and charities.
Welfare at the school gate
School advocates have highlighted that the primary focus of schools is to educate, noting that some well-meaning initiatives further burden an already stretched workforce. This was a huge consideration in the development of the second programme focus - welfare at the school gate.
The research was sound; having welfare advisors in schools demonstrably helps families to access the support they are entitled to, often providing a vital increase to monthly household income. There was, however, a concern that this type of work may well fall to school staff to administer.
Officers worked closely with constituent authorities to develop ways to work with schools without adding to their existing workloads. It was also important to acknowledge what support already existed in each local authority.
The outcome has been a model of bespoke welfare advice used in each authority. The programme is showing impact, with £1.2m of benefit realisation achieved in less than two years of delivery.
Learnings for the future
One relatively contentious issue to deal with has been which schools to target. Early conversations were surprising. Some headteachers told us that they were inundated with offers of interventions and support - too many to possibly engage with at one time.
Other school leaders told us that despite serving relatively disadvantaged communities with high poverty rates, they were not eligible for much support.
At NTCA, we worked with local authorities to agree which schools to target, based on data, local intelligence and context. As a combined authority, we can only ask that schools work with us. For some, the timing just hasn't been right and we have respected that position.
Patience has been key to the programme. In funding and political timeframes, it is understandable to rush to measure outcomes as early as possible. While we can measure reach, we won't be able to truly measure impact for some time.
As Amanda Bailey, Director of the North East Child Poverty Commission puts it ‘What is less easy (if not impossible) to quantify is the preventative nature of this work: for the family that didn’t end up trapped in problem debt; the mum who won’t now have a mental health crisis; the child who won’t develop a long-term health condition; and the parental relationships that didn’t break down as a result of never-ending financial stress – because families were able to access the right advice and support, at the right time, through this pilot. The value of this is immeasurable.’
Adrian Dougherty is Head of Public Sector Innovation at North of Tyne Combined Authority.
Further information is available at northoftyne-ca.gov.uk or follow on X @NorthTyneCA
