Reward offered to reduce teen mums
Jul 1 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
EXTRA Government funds will be handed out to hard-up North councils if they can prove they have made progress towards to a series of targets.
A shake-up in the number of rules and checklists councils have to follow will mean city leaders can tailor services to specific problems instead of working just to meet Central Government standards.
Most of the region’s councils have decided to prioritise measures to improve health and tackle anti-social behaviour, with many aiming to see fewer teen pregnancies in the next three years.
Reducing the rate of teen pregnancy has been identified as a priority for 11 out of 12 councils in the region, including Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle.
The North East has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the country, suggesting councillors will have to dedicate vast resources if they wish to solve the problem.
Health concerns are evident in all the council’s selected targets, with Durham looking to reduce deaths from cancer and heart disease, the number of which are among the worst in the region.
Newcastle Council is also looking to reduce the number of people treated in hospital for alcohol-related conditions and injuries.
City leader John Shipley said: “These targets will make life easier. We choose the priorities and now part of the Government funding depends on us achieving these. So actually there are cash benefits to the city on achieving these. We have here a list of things we think we need to put right over the next three years.
“Those identified here are issues we know people feel strongly about, that we really need to make a difference in and if we can do that, the funding will follow.”
Known as local area agreements (LAA), the targets were put together by councils working with other local bodies, covering a wide range of topics, including affordable housing, congestion and crime.
Vice-chair of County Durham Partnership Michael Banks helped put together the county’s list. The targets include efforts to reduce the number of obese children and increasing recycling.
Mr Banks said: “We have used a wide variety of local and national evidence to identify the county’s most pressing priorities.
“This included looking at areas where we could improve our performance and views of the public from the LAA survey. We also held a series of workshops with representatives from the county’s key public sector organisations, local partnerships and the voluntary and community sectors.”
A Northumberland County Council spokesperson said: “We have selected, with our partners, to focus on these targets for Northumberland as we believe they are the key priorities for the county and the residents we serve.”
The new standards are backed by Minister for the North East Nick Brown.
He said: “The key priority is to lift up the prosperity of our region.
“No one should feel left out and that includes vulnerable teenagers who have left education but remain out of work.
“I welcome these new initiatives and the extra money which will follow improved local authority performance.”
