A £4.2bn devolution deal for the North East will give local leaders “more power” to reverse staggering levels of child poverty, according to Michael Gove.
The region has become the child poverty capital of England, with more than a third of youngsters growing up below the poverty line and rates at their worst for more than two decades. A harrowing new report from the Child of the North All Party Parliamentary Group revealed this week that child poverty is now the highest it has been since 2000/2001 in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, while an extra 160,000 children were living in deprivation in the North during the Covid pandemic compared to the rest of England.
As Mr Gove visited Tyneside on Friday to sign the historic devolution deal, he said the extra powers and funding to be delivered to a new regional mayor would help combat the child poverty crisis. Asked if the Conservative Government accepted responsibility for the climbing poverty rates in the North East over recent years, the levelling up secretary told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We take responsibility for dealing with the significant challenge that child poverty presents us.
"The last two or three years have been particularly difficult because a) the Covid pandemic and its aftermath and b) the war in Ukraine have put a particular pressure on the poorest in our society.
“The Government has acted and intervened to support. The deal today will give more power to the mayoral combined authority and the other local authorities to support those in the most difficult position.”
Mr Gove added: “What we need to do is get more people who are economically inactive with the dignity of a job, and a well-paying job. Today’s deal will make the North East an even more attractive place for investment in high value manufacturing and other high-paying jobs.”
The devolution deal will involve a new mayor being elected in 2024 to head a combined authority stretching across Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham. It is hoped that the huge agreement will create 24,000 new jobs and encourage a further £5bn of private sector investment.
The deal includes a £48m-per-year investment fund, £60m every year for adult education and skills, a £900m package of transport investment, and the ability to bring bus services under public control. The North of Tyne mayor, Jamie Driscoll, said: “This is not just about concrete and steel, this is about our people. The best way to deal with poverty is to get people earning a good wage.”
He added: “This will bring thousands of jobs that are really, really well paid and make sure people have the support and training they need to get those jobs, earn more money. It gets us the transport funding that I promised I would try to get. It gives us a chance to have an affordable, safe, reliable transport system that tackles climate change.”
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