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1/ All eyes on Hartlepool, with 3 weeks to the by-election.
But away from party politics, our new briefing shows what ‘levelling up’ is really going to mean in the local context. We call it the policy wonk's guide to Hartlepool: http://www.smf.co.uk/publications/policy-guide-to-hartlepool
But away from party politics, our new briefing shows what ‘levelling up’ is really going to mean in the local context. We call it the policy wonk's guide to Hartlepool: http://www.smf.co.uk/publications/policy-guide-to-hartlepool
2/ We start, inevitably, with COVID-19. Hartlepool has been badly affected, with death rates above not just the English average but the rest of the North East as well.
3/ But Hartlepool was vulnerable to the virus due to its poor health going into pandemic.
Life expectancy is a couple of years below national average, but *healthy* life expectancy is 5-6 years lower for Hartlepudlians than the rest of the country.
Life expectancy is a couple of years below national average, but *healthy* life expectancy is 5-6 years lower for Hartlepudlians than the rest of the country.
4/ That reflects a broader stagnation in life expectancy, which has risen at a third of its normal rate in the past decade, and widening health inequalities.
In particular, life expectancy FELL for the most deprived women between 2011 and 2019.
In particular, life expectancy FELL for the most deprived women between 2011 and 2019.
5/ Stagnating life expectancy and high COVID deaths partly reflects slow progress on lifestyle risk factors: Hartlepool has some of the highest rates in the country of overweight/obesity, smoking and alcohol deaths.
Public health grants have been cut 22% in the last 5 years.
Public health grants have been cut 22% in the last 5 years.
6/ Turning to the economy, that poor health helps contribute to Hartlepool's lower than average employment rate - 2/5ths of economically inactive people in Hartlepool are long-term sick.
7/ For those in work, in Hartlepool as in the rest of the country, earnings remain lower in real terms than before the financial crisis.
8/ That weak economic performance has driven an increase in child poverty - 22% of Hartlepool children, and 18% nationally, were in low-income households in 2018/19.
9/ And COVID-19 has led to an increase in child hunger. Last December, @SMFthinktank analysis estimated that 17.7% of children in Hartlepool faced very low food security. You can see how that compares to other local authorities here: https://www.smf.co.uk/publications/measuring-child-hunger/
10/ Another economic challenge facing both the area and the UK as a whole is climate transition. This will be tougher for Hartlepool, which has higher CO2 emissions, falling more slowly than the rest of the country.
11/ Hartlepool has some of the cheapest housing in the country. Average house price is £128k, and average rent is £450/month. That could be an asset in terms of attracting economic activity...
12/ ...but commuting patterns will have to shift significantly for that to be the case. Analysis based on current patterns suggests that a shift to remote working would only have a modest impact on Hartlepool.
13/ That might offer encouragement to invest in transport, but buses - much neglected in recent years - should be part of the package. The Government's 'Bus Back Better' strategy has a lot of work to do in places like Hartlepool, where ALL funding for bus services has been cut.
14/ Onto education, which is a more positive story for Hartlepool. The town was described by the Social Mobility Commission as an early years 'hotspot', showing that deprived areas don't always do worse on preschool outcomes.
15/ Things are more mixed at school level. Hartlepool students are more likely than average to be in a good/outstanding school for primary, but far less for secondary. Overall, they do less well than average in exams.
16/ Post-18, Hartlepool really stands out, with the highest share of students doing higher technical qualifications in England: 17% (vs. 3% nationally)
Expanding such courses is a key goal of the Government’s skills strategy. It could do worse than look to Hartlepool as a model
Expanding such courses is a key goal of the Government’s skills strategy. It could do worse than look to Hartlepool as a model
17/ Here's what Hartlepool college Principal @HCFEprincipal says about it:
18/ Hartlepool exemplifies concerns around declining social infrastructure, ranking 6th from bottom in @ukonward's 'Social Fabric' index. Notably, this was about trust, civic activity and social norms more than physical infrastructure.
19/ In response, the local council has joined the @CommWealthFund campaign for a community wealth fund to invest in the town. https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/politics/council/joining-alliance-set-bring-millions-pounds-investment-hartlepools-left-behind-communities-3138301
20/ For all these challenges, on at least some measures of subjective wellbeing (life satisfaction), Hartlepool is around national average. At the same time, it is below average in reported Happiness. This raises questions about the implications of such data for policymakers.
21/ There's loads more we could have looked at (feel free to share your favourite data about Hartlepool!), but hopefully this demonstrates some of the policy stakes, not just for Hartlepool, not just for the by-election, but for the country in years to come.
22/ Once more for luck, here's the link to the full briefing: http://www.smf.co.uk/publications/policy-guide-to-hartlepool
