North East

Introduction

The North East is one of the smallest of the English regions in the area it covers 8,573 sq km and has the smallest population of 2.6m.

The two main centres of population are the conurbations that are grouped around the three main rivers. In the North of the region, the rivers Tyne and Wear on which the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland lie. In the South of the region, the river Tees on which Middlesbrough and Stockton are placed. The region currently has ten unitary/metropolitan councils, thirteen district councils and two county councils. The Government announced in July 2007 proposals for Durham and Northumberland to be governed by county-wide unitary authorities to be fully operational in 2009.

Two thirds of the region is rural, a third is designated as a National Park (Northumberland and part of the North York Moors), or an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (North Pennines and the Northumberland Coast). In addition the region has two World Heritage Sites in Durham Cathedral and Hadrian’s Wall.

The major routes into the North East are the A1(M), A1 and A19 which run North-South and the A69(T) and A66(T) providing the East-West connections. The region is well served with frequent rail links to London and Edinburgh. There are two international airports in the region, Newcastle and Durham Tees Valley.

Recent Visits

Demographics for the North East

Mid-2006 Population Estimates

Figures updated annually. Last update August 2007. Source: Office for National Statistics.

The Regional Minister for the North East: The Rt Hon Nick Brown MP

Children and Learners

• School Capital Funding allocations for the three years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 were announced in November 2007. The North East local authorities will receive £136.5 million in 2008-09 (including £25.9 million for modernisation and £52.1 million for devolved formula funding), £168.1 million in 2009-10 (including £41.7 million from the Primary Capital Programme) and £206.9 million in 2010-11 (including £70.2 million from the Primary Capital Programme), although 2009-11 figures are only indicative at this stage.
• Nine authorities in the region (Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton and Sunderland) have now joined the Building Schools for the Future programme. The £2 billion a year national capital investment programme is aiming to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in England so that every child is taught in well designed, efficient 21st century buildings.
• Three local authorities in the region (Darlington, North Tyneside and Northumberland) will share £24 million during 2009-11 under the Targeted Capital Funding programme for 14-19 diplomas and special education needs and disabilities.
• Announced in March 2006, an £89 million project to overhaul secondary education in East Durham. Plans put forward for a £25 million super school in Peterlee and a £16 million replacement for Seaham School of Technology.
• The Education Village in Darlington, a £37 million education centre opened in April 2006 bringing together 1,400 pupils from three schools. State-of-the-art facilities at the centre include a swimming pool, a hydrotherapy pool and a village green.
• Designs were unveiled in September 2006 for a £25 million school campus to be built at Crossgate Moor in Durham. The redevelopment is the first under Durham County Council’s Building Schools for the Future programme and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2008.

Health and Well Being

• A new state-of-the-art NHS Walk in Centre at the city’s Jury’s Inn hotel opened in August 2006 and is run by Care UK. The centre provides commuters with access to healthcare on their way to and from work without the need for an appointment.
• A new £1.1 million care centre opened in Hartlepool in October 2006. The Wynyard Road Primary Care Centre has been built as part of the Local Improvement Finance Trust programme and aims to provide a range of health services to reduce the need for patients to visit hospitals.
• Just over £3 million will be awarded across the North East to improve the physical environment of hospices for patients and families. The funding comes from the Department of Health’s Dignity in Care for Older People programme.
• A new state-of-the-art rehabilitation ward opened at North Tyneside Hospital in June 2006. The facility for stroke patients boasts a speech and language unit and a physiotherapy gym. The ward will be run by the Primary Care Trust and is part of a £3 million building project at the hospital.

Crime

• Middlesbrough, Newcastle, South Tyneside and Sunderland have been named as four of 40 priority Respect Action Areas in England, for being councils who have strong records in tackling anti-social behaviour. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is also backing the scheme with £6 million of funding in 2007-08 for parenting classes in the 40 areas.
• The North East has been allocated an additional 94 Community Support Officers, bringing the total up to 256. They will work with police to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour within communities.
• The North East has a target to reduce overall crime by 18.1 per cent by 2008. These are measured by the 10 British Crime Survey (BCS) Comparator crimes. Through individual agreements, the 23 Safety Partnerships in the region are committed to a combined overall crime reduction target of 19.1 per cent by 2008.
• During 2007-08 the 23 Community Safety Partnerships in the North East will receive £4.4 million from the Home Office element of the Safer Stronger Communities Fund. This will be used to help achieve the Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets which are to reduce overall crime by 15 per cent and more in high crime areas, to reassure the public, reducing the fear of crime and anti social behaviour as well as building confidence in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) without compromising fairness and to reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs including substantially increasing the number of drugs misusing offenders entering treatment through the CJS. Funding will also help tackle local priorities.
• The North East has been allocated £2.5 million under the Home Office Basic Command Unit fund for 2007-08 to help police play a full and active role in delivery of Crime and Disorder Reducation Partnership strategies and policing plans and contribute towards achievement of PSA and local targets.

Transport

• For 2007-08 to 2010-11, the Local Transport Plan settlement is giving the North East £245 million to improve local transport in the region.
• A Transport Innovation Fund of £400,000 has been awarded to County Durham and an award of £1.7 million has been awarded to Tyne and Wear Local Authority. Both awards are to be used to explore both hard demand management and public transport improvements. Business cases are planned to be submitted in summer 2008.
• Darlington was successful in its bid to be one of three Sustainable Travel Town pilot schemes in England. It is receiving £3.24 million over the five years 2005-09 to promote sustainable modes of transport. In addition, Darlington has been chosen as a cycling demonstration town. From 2005 it receives £500,000 a year, for three years to promote the project.
• A second road tunnel is to be built under the River Tyne. The existing tunnel which opened in 1967 links North and South Tyneside and carries more than 11 million vehicles a year. The new tunnel, which is likely to cost about £260 million, will be built east of the existing site between Jarrow in South Tyneside and Howden in North Tyneside. The project is to be funded from tolls.
• On 1 February 2008, TT2 the Bouygues-led Consortium began the 30-year concession to operate the existing vehicle, cycle and pedestrian tunnels, to construct the second vehicle tunnel and refurbish the existing vehicle tunnel.
• Ground investigation works have already commenced in preparation for the start of construction works. The new tunnel is expected to open in late 2010 whereupon the existing tunnel will close for refurbishment for about 12 months.
• On the A66 in Stockton, Long Newton grade separated junction was completed in May 2008.
• Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor (DETC) is now under construction. This new road will provide a link between Haughton Road and the A66, which also provides a dedicated link to the Lingfield Point Business Park. Work well advanced and is expected to be completed by summer 2008. The scheme is expected to exceed its initial cost of £12.5 million, Darlington Borough Council have submitted a request to the Department for Transport for additional funds of approximately £2 million to cover increased costs.. This scheme will allow the development of 80 per cent of the Darlington Great Park without the need to upgrade the A66 trunk road.
• Work has now started on the £24.7 million A69 Haydon Bridge bypass and completion is expected in spring 2009.
• Metro Re-invigoration (Project Orpheus): this project is supported by the Interim Regional Transport Board. Metro reinvigoration will cost some £600 million and be phased over a number of years. Nexus has submitted its business case to Government for approval. In August 2007, the Department for Transport awarded programme entry for a £12.9 milllion scheme to install new ticket machines and barriers on Metro. All 249 ticket machines will be replaced with models capable of accepting credit cards and bank notes. Electronic barriers will also be funded at 13 key stations to protect the Metro’s revenue. Funding depends on suitable progress being made by Nexus.

Social Inclusion and Regeneration

• £214 million has been committed for the four North East New Deal for Communities partnerships to enable the social and economic regeneration of inner city area.
• £66.3 million through Working Neighbourhoods Fund for 2008-09, £78.18 million for 2009-10 and £80.7 million for 2010-11 has been allocated to tackle areas of the highest concentrations of worklessness and lowest levels of skills and enterprise, faced by the most disadvantaged communities. With an overall Area Based Grant for the region of £89 million for 2008-09, £187.83 million for 2009-10 and £187.3 million for 2010-11.
• The North East has three Round 1 Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders established in 2002, out of 20 nationally, which receives £3.4 million over seven years. The Pathfinders are within Stockton-on-Tees, Derwentside and Easington, with Blyth being successful under the Round 2 Pathfinder in December 2003.
• There were three Liveability Fund Pilots within the North East with a total allocation of £8.2 million from February 2004-06. The pilot areas at Castle Morpeth, Easington and North Tyneside were testing new approaches for tackling public space and local liveability issues that focus on service improvement, investment in innovative new parks and public spaces, and action learning and sharing of good practice throughout the process.

European Funding

• £500 million of European funding has been allocated under the Objective 2 programmes, and £200 million under the Objective 3 programme. These funds are administered through a partnership of regional bodies and the Government Office for the North East.
• The Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima) opened on 27 January 2007. This landmark gallery will present the best of art and craft from 1900 to the modern day received £4.8 million of European Regional Developmen Funding.