Localism

How the north east will seize devolution to tackle child poverty

Our combined authority is leading the way in bringing a fragmented system back together to support schools in mitigating child poverty, writes Adrian Dougherty

Our combined authority is leading the way in bringing a fragmented system back together to support schools in mitigating child poverty, writes Adrian Dougherty

22 Jan 2023, 5:00

I listened  recently to Sarah (not her real name), the headteacher of a small primary school in the north east. She spoke of her frustration at not being able to help the increasing numbers of families she knows are really struggling this winter. She told me how child poverty is now manifesting as so much more than parents struggling to pay for school shoes or uniforms.  

Regional inequality remains a constant in our country, a burden carried heavily by our children. Despite much positive work, we’ve seen the Covid pandemic wipe out many gains in reducing disadvantage gaps. In the north east, we have felt the brunt of this sharply, with school leaders still dealing with the consequences. Last year, it was revealed that the north east had overtaken London as the region with the highest number of children living in poverty. At times the situation feels desperate, the challenge insurmountable.  

But there is hope. Sarah shared with me a green shoot of progress.  A new advisor in her school is offering families welfare advice. She told me enthusiastically about one family who are about to see benefit increases of over £400 per month, backdated to around £4,000 – a lifeline for the family and potentially life-changing for those children. This work has been funded as part of a North of Tyne Combined Authority programme.

At the Combined Authority, we’re piloting programmes like this to address the inequalities faced by children across Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside. We’re working alongside, and with, our local authorities and local school leaders to support their existing work and bring welfare advice into schools. It has been heartening to see that a system can come together with a clear vision: to help families and children at the sharp end of poverty and historic inequality.  

Poverty interventions should be intertwined with school improvement

Sarah also told me about her experience of funding cuts, about how hard it is to retain staff and notably about how there can be a lack of system coordination when it comes to the support around her whole school community. She’s right. It is far too easy to slip into narrow thinking, to address a specific problem without considering the wider implications. Poverty interventions, for example, should be intertwined with school improvement because they both aim to help the life chances of the children we serve.   

Our work in this sector is more than welfare at the school gate. We’ve listened and are working in collaboration to support across a variety of issues, from early literacy to transition between phases, from career pathways to school-driven interventions around poverty and post-Covid recovery.

As a Combined Authority focused on working in collaboration for the region, we are working with a broad range of stakeholders across the system. Trusts, local authorities, charities, teaching school hubs, research schools, unions, formal and informal school networks. So much exceptional practice exists, and we want to enable better coordination to support schools, families and children.

Everyone agrees that persistent academic inequality and child poverty are unacceptable, so there is shared purpose, but problems arise when it comes to turning enthusiasm into action. Over time fragmentation has led to silos of support for schools. Who is funding it? Who is delivering it? How do we measure progress? We can all, if we’re not careful, nod along at principles and comment on the shocking statistics from the sidelines. It’s much harder and messier to get everyone talking and implementing solutions. But it is this work that is necessary now.  

Looking to the future, government recently announced a historic new devolution deal for the north east. If agreed, this will support County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

Within the deal, there is a commitment to address child poverty and education inequality. We’ve heard from Sarah’s experience that it is indeed possible to make a tangible difference to the lives of children when the system works together. Against the bleakest of backdrops, the green shoots of hope are increasingly visible, and if we don’t make it happen now – then when?

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