North East mayor Kim McGuinness urges region to lead the country on eliminating child poverty

North East mayor Kim McGuinness has urged the region to lead the country in reducing child poverty, saying she won’t be satisfied until the issue is eradicated entirely.

Ms McGuinness has staked her political reputation on the issue, saying earlier this year that her mayoralty should be judged on reducing child poverty. The North East currently has the highest levels of child poverty in the UK, with latest figures suggesting around 118,000 children in the area are growing up poor.

The first steps in that battle came at the inaugural North East Child Poverty Summit today, which was attended by around 350 people working in the field in a bid to agree strategies for reducing poverty.

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At the summit, Ms McGuinness said that the Labour Government’s failure to scrap the two-child benefit cap was “holding families back” but added that the North East couldn’t wait for all the solutions to the problem to come from Westminster.

She said: “In 2024 it’s a disgrace that we’re even talking about child poverty. Life for some families in this region is unimaginably hard.

“Reducing child poverty is the right thing to do but it’s also incredibly important for us as a region and our economy that we sort this out. We’ve got incredible talent in this region - talent is classless but opportunity isn’t, and at the minute there’s a huge barrier between poverty and opportunity that’s holding people back.

“I would never set a target that’s halving child poverty - we can’t have a target that leaves some families to struggle. We’ve got to be really ambitious about it, knowing all the while that it’s an incredibly steep hill to climb.

“We have the unenviable title of the area with the worst levels of child poverty so it’s a real imperative for us. And as a region we’ve been shouting about this for a long time.

“We’ve been shouting for a long time at a Government that won’t even acknowledge the problem. We do now have a Government that’s listening and wants to take action. We’re ready to lead the way.”

At the summit, Ms McGuinness announced a £50m investment from the Department for Work and Pensions that aims to help people with long-term physical and mental health problems back into work. She also announced after school clubs and family learning sessions in 220 schools across the North East and said the North East Combined Authority would deliver 1,500 baby boxes to new parents on low incomes to help support their child’s development in the early years of their life.

Delegates at the conference were also asked to suggest ways in which local action could be taken to maximise family incomes, make work a route out of poverty and give children the best possible start in life.

Among those present was North East Chamber of Commerce chief executive John McCabe, who urged action on this issue. He said: “This is a brilliant initiative but we cannot be back here next year, wringing our hands and wondering what we should do next. The time to act is now.”

Beth Farhat, chair of the North East Child Poverty Commission, said: "It was very encouraging to hear the mayor reiterate her focus on some of the key issues, such as making the North East a Living Wage region, providing support with childcare costs, targeted employment support for parents and carers, and making public transport more affordable.

"But it’s now time to get to work – and the need to do so is as pressing as ever, as the countless organisations who took part in today’s event and are already working flat out to support children and families across the region, will confirm. We look forward to seeing some of the ideas shared at the summit today turned as quickly as possible into action, so that the children growing up right now in hardship see their living standards rise, and opportunities expanded, as a result."