Tackling child poverty in South Tyneside: A collaborative approach for lasting change

Cllr Tracey Dixon, Leader of South Tyneside Council, emphasises the council’s dedication to combating child poverty through collaborative initiatives and support programs, including hosting a Child Poverty Summit. She discusses community challenges and outlines measures like enhanced school support and welfare services while calling for stronger national strategies to tackle the root causes of poverty.

Council’s, public and third sector organisations right across the country are spending a huge amount of time, energy, and resources on tackling poverty.

South Tyneside made poverty a priority way before the cost of living crisis hit. A quarter of the population of South Tyneside live in the most deprived 10% of areas in England so it isn’t anything new for our communities.

As a post-industrial, coastal community, we have some complex challenges related to skills, health and deprivation that hold back growth and hamper outcomes for our people.

I’ve blogged for LGIU before about the two anti-poverty summits that we’ve held in South Tyneside and the positive impact our collaborative approach is having on the lives of people across the borough, working hand in hand with the third sector.

Last month, we brought people together again to focus on the issue of child poverty. We wanted a renewed, more rounded conversation on the topic that would directly influence South Tyneside’s Child Poverty Strategy and, in turn, influence the regional strategy being led by the North East Combined Authority – for which I am the regional lead for Education, Inclusion and Deputy Chair of the regional Child Poverty Reduction Unit.

The number of children living in poverty in South Tyneside and, indeed, across the region is on an upward trajectory despite the huge amount of work that is going on to tackle the wider poverty agenda. Around a third of children in South Tyneside are living in poverty; a third are eligible for free school meals; these figures are staggering, and it’s impossible not to feel emotional when you hear about the conditions that many of our families are living in.

We know that the impact of poverty on children’s lives can be linked to low birth weight in babies, poor physical and mental health and much more. Child poverty is a social failure that has devastating impacts.

A number of key themes emerged from the Summit including food insecurity and the threshold for free school meal provision, the cost of the school day and the challenges and barriers facing families and young people, along with the direct link between child poverty and health inequalities and the importance of reducing in-work poverty.

As a result of the Summit, we are committing to:

• Raising the key issues from the Summit with the Combined Authority and Government;
• Enhancing support to schools to reduce the cost of the school day and support parents just above the Free School Meal threshold;
• Encouraging take-up of Free School Meals;
• Rolling out more baby boxes to new parents;
• Providing further welfare support within Family Hubs;
• And expanding advice on money matters and help on sustainable cooking to parents within school settings.

While there is a huge amount of work going on to alleviate poverty in South Tyneside, most of the levers to action real change are still in the control of central government and we are lobbying hard for change. Instead of dealing with the effects of poverty, we need to stop people being in poverty in the first place. We need robust national strategies aimed at tackling the root causes of poverty, not just the symptoms, to improve children’s life chances and outcomes.

In South Tyneside, the Household Support Fund has had a significant impact in helping local families and those on the lowest incomes, boosting financial security. This support has helped fund:

• Food vouchers for children on free school meals during school holidays;
• School uniforms vouchers;
• Food banks;
• The community food bus;
• Welfare support team;
• Dedicated support for care leavers;
• And voluntary sector support to fund vital projects targeted at particular groups.

Our Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme is a positive collective example of bringing together exceptional organisations within the borough to deliver enriching, engaging and fun activities for children, young people, and families. In 2023/24, more events and activities were delivered than ever, with a staggering 28,603 sessions available across the spring, summer, and winter school holidays and with 6,250 children and families attending at least four activities. Set against a backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis, HAF proved to be a much-needed resource for social activities and nutritious meals during the school holiday period.

Find out more about HAF clubs in this case study from Wyre Borough Council

To ensure opportunity from birth, we believe that the Family Hub model must continue. This model, based on Sure Start and the children’s centres which South Tyneside Council continued to fund when government funding ended after 2010, has seen over 50,000 contacts from 8,500 children, young people, parents, and carers at the 12 Family Hubs over the last year (June 2023 – June 2024).

The hubs provide access to a broad range of universal, targeted and specialist services offering high-quality information, advice, and support for families with teams located at venues across the borough, enabling families to access the right support at the right time. The support on offer includes parenting support, early language and home learning, parent-child relationships, and infant feeding support. With funding due to end next year, we want the government to continue to invest in Family Hubs to boost outcomes, just as Sure Start did.

It is so important that young people are involved in these discussions so that we can shape the strategy together. South Tyneside’s Youth Council were involved in the organisation of the Summit and led a debate to stimulate discussion around the room on issues such as the extension of free school meals, the financial impact of the two-child benefit cap on families and key drivers of poverty. By working with members of the Youth Council, we can ensure that children’s voices are heard, especially in terms of lived experience. We have also worked with younger pupils in our primary schools as well as gaining insights and feedback from various youth groups. We are keen that children’s voices are at the heart of the work that we do.

The Child Poverty Summit and emerging strategy builds on a significant amount of work since our Poverty Commission was established by the former People Select Committee back in 2020. We have already established a multi-partner South Tyneside Poverty Group and held two Anti-Poverty Summits from which a raft of measures has already been implemented in South Tyneside to help people through the cost-of-living crisis. This includes the establishment of over 70 Welcoming Places, which also provide welfare and wider support. An independent academic evaluation has demonstrated the positive impact these venues have in supporting residents to stay warm and avoid rising heating costs, reduce social isolation, and provide support, advice and signposting as needed. Described by one service user as “worth its weight in gold.”

We’ve boosted crisis funding, school uniform and holiday provision and Council Tax support, as well as support for food banks, community food shops and food bus, all providing low-cost food and signposting to support services. Our anti-poverty strategy was approved in March 2024 and is being implemented across the borough, with no one organisation able to deal with the magnitude of the issue, partnership working is at the very heart of our approach.

We have worked collaboratively with partners and the third sector, and that cooperative approach sets South Tyneside apart and has enabled us to do so much for those most in need of support. But we must do more!

The Summit sent a clear and resounding message: together, we can address child poverty. We need change, and quickly.

The summit highlighted the commitment and determination of people to work together to address child poverty and it was heartening to see all the positive interventions in place, including the work with young people and schools.

The Government’s ministerial taskforce is absolutely welcomed. We need a join-up in policy decisions right across government to eradicate child poverty.

It feels like a moment we need to harness. We have a government task force, a regional Child Poverty Reduction Unit, and by the Spring, a local Child Poverty strategy for South Tyneside as well as the Government’s national strategy. The time is now for everyone to make a difference, to have the bravery and courage to tackle child poverty so that we can break the cycle and improve outcomes for our young people.

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