Gateshead

Introduction

Gateshead is in the south bank of the river Tyne. Gateshead's economic history is steeped in traditional industries with ironworks, shipbuilding, pottery and glassmaking all featuring in the areas past. Traditional industries have now given way to a more diversified economy. Gateshead has seen extensive regeneration in recent years. Developments have included Gateshead International Stadium, the MetroCentre, the Millennium Bridge and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. Culture has also been key to the area, with sculptures positioned across the district. The most famous of which is the sculpture the Angel of the North, which towers 65 feet over the A1.

Recent visits

Friday 24 April: Lord Adonis, Minister of State for Transport launched the Tyne and Wear Bus Strategy at the Sage Gateshead. The Integrated Transport Authority, local authorities in Tyne and Wear, Nexus and commercial operators came together to launch the strategy, which recognises the vital importance of bus services to local communities and to the economy of the sub-region. 

Demographics for Gateshead

Mid-2007 Population Estimates

Children and learners

• School Capital Funding allocations for the next three years were announced in November 2007. As a result Gateshead Council received £8.4 million in 2008-09 (including £1.5 million for modernisation and £3.9 million for devolved formula funding), £11.6 million in 2009-10 (including £3.1 million from the Primary Capital Programme) and £13.9 million in 2010/11 (including £5.5 million from the Primary Capital Programme), although 2009-11 figures are only indicative at this stage.
• Gateshead has secured funding through the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme under wave 1 to upgrade the Thomas Hepburn Community School and Heworth Grange Comprehensive School. The remaining secondary school estate will be included in a later wave of BSF.
• Two new secondary schools have been built to replace Lord Lawson of Beamish and Kingsmeadow secondary schools as part of the £64.2 million Gateshead Schools Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Project, which also includes five new primary schools, namely Harlow Green, Rowlands Gill, Dunston Hill, Highfield and Highfield St Josephs. The first schools were completed in April 2007 and the final phases of the project were completed in August 2008.
• The two new PFI secondary schools joined the BSF ICT managed service in September 2008.
• Gateshead and its schools have been allocated £33.7 million of schools capital funding in the spending period 2008-11 (£8.4 million/£18.4 million/£6.9 million). This includes the full £8.63 million of primary capital programme funding that the authority will receive.
• The Local Education Partnership won Best Community Integration at the BSF Awards 2008 and, at the recent Public Private Finance Awards 2009, won Best Education Project and Best Public Sector Project Team.

Health and well being

• The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead opened a £4 million breast screening and assessment centre in July 2005.

Crime

• During 2008-11 the partnership will receive a Home Office contribution to their Area Based Grant of £762,000. This equates to £254,000 per year. Their funding is to be used to support the delivery of the agreed local area agreement priorities.
• Over £171,000 has been allocated under the Basic Command Unit fund for 2009-10 to help police play a full and active role in delivery of crime and disorder reduction partnership strategies and policing plans and contribute towards achievement of public service agreement and local targets. Funding will be used on a wide range of interventions and targeted police operations to tackle crime and disorder, anti-social behaviour, drugs misuse and building partnership capacity. All activity has been identified by taking intelligence led and problem solving approaches.

Transport

• £102 million was allocated to Tyne and Wear from the integrated transport and maintenance block for the years 2008-09 to 2010-11. This will be used to support a number of initiatives/schemes including access for all, cycling, public transport, safety and security, demand management and environmental improvements.
• A Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) allocation of £1.7 million for Tyne and Wear local authorities to explore both hard demand management and public transport improvements. The study concluded that congestion charging would be an inappropriate solution to their transport problems in the current climate and as a consequence the Tyne and Wear authorities declined the opportunity to put forward a business case to Department for Transport.
• It was announced in 2006 that up to £60 million will be available over four years through the Urban Congestion Performance Fund to encourage and motivate the local authorities in the 10 most congested areas in England to outperform their own 2010-11 congestion targets, on which the indicator is based. As a reward for their performance, Tyne and Wear were awarded £336,000 in 2007, £470,000 in 2008 and £874,000 in February 2009, making a total of £1.68 million so far.

Social inclusion and regeneration

• £5.2 million through Working Neighbourhoods Fund for 2008-09, £6.25 million for 2009-10 and £6.49 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.
• £6.66 million has been allocated for 2009-10 and £6.66 million for 2010-11 under the Supporting People programme. This offers vulnerable people the opportunity to improve their quality of life by delivering high quality and strategically planned housing-related services which complement existing care services.
• resources are also being provided through the Neighbourhood Element of Safer and Stronger Communities Fund totalling £412,800 in 2008-09 and £258,000 in 2009-10 when the programme will come to an end.

European funding

• The Sage Gateshead received the Partners in Europe Award 2006 for Pride of the Region Urban Category. The £70 million landmark building is a world-class centre for the performance, enjoyment and practice of all forms of music. Sage Gateshead is attracting significant numbers of visitors to Gateshead and the region and is creating substantial direct and indirect employment. The project is also a key component of the regeneration of Gateshead Quays, alongside the Millennium Bridge and BALTIC, and aims to raise the national and international profile of Gateshead and the region.

Source: Office for National Statistics. Last updated 23 June 2009

Internet links

• Neighbourhood Statistics
• Regional Snapshot