North East lagging behind with solving social problems

Jan 19 2009 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

THE Government’s “one size fits all” approach to solving social problems could be making the North East a worse place to live, experts have suggested

A leading think tank has asked the region’s top civil servants to explain why the North East continues to lag behind in terms of health, education and jobs, despite record levels of Government investment. Researchers at ippr North have set up a commission to look at what is holding back the region after it was revealed that despite £2.3bn of Government spending there were still large regional inequalities.

High among the damning statistics presented by commission was a revelation that when Labour came to power in 1997 the North East was behind the national average on GCSE pass rates.

While the North East overall now passes the national average it is still far behind in English and maths results.

And in life expectancy there is still a two-year difference between the North and the South.

Duncan Hiscock, senior research fellow at the think tank, said there had been some noticeable achievements but still no overall improvement.

He described the Government’s centralised funding approach in which money is handed out on a national basis as “running to stand still”. Mr Hiscock added: “What we’re asking now is whether if we had a more localised, personalised way would it make a difference?

“Does the existence of serious social inequalities in the region, problems which exist despite generous funding, mean that we need unique tailor-made solutions instead?

“Past measures have been linked to just more money and spending but clearly this is not the whole answer.

“We’re doing the same as everywhere else and that will not help us do anything other than remain in the same relative position.”

Sir George Russell, chair of the Commission, said: “The quandary we want to get to the bottom of is why, despite the North East having highly-performing public services, many outcomes across health, education, and welfare to work still lag behind other regions, and more importantly if more local, more personalised services will allow us to make significant improvements in the future.”

Last night, the head of the North East Assembly, Alex Watson, said his agency had done a lot to tackle issues such as regional unemployment but questioned a Government decision to phase out the Assembly next year.

Mr Watson said: “I have some grave concerns that there are not sufficient region-specific measures in place to make sure we continue to be considered on our own terms in future years.”