People in the Tees Valley are not only living shorter lives than the national average, they are spending significantly more of those lives in poor health, and the gap between communities is growing.
Local devolution has been a failure
The promise of devolution to deliver growth across the country started a decade ago within the Tees Valley. But the only growth that we are seeing is in health inequality at an alarming rate.
Unhealthy Teessiders
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that people across the UK are spending less time in good health and inequalities between the Tees Valley and the rest of the country are stark.
Quality vs quantity
The Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) rate measures how many years someone can expect to live in good health. It is not the same as life expectancy but is a useful tool to show insight into quality of life as a whole.
Across England women live 62 years in good health whilst men live 61. In the Tees Valley, on average, that falls to 56 years for women and 55 years for men. That is six years fewer than the national average.
Healthy life reduction
Let’s look a bit more locally. For example, if you are a woman in Hartlepool, in the past six years, your HLE has reduced by seven years. Consolidated information comparing HLE rates across all areas of the Tees Valley can be seen below, alongside national data. HLE rates fell nationally from 2016 to 2024, but every part of the Tees Valley fared worse than the national average.
Unhealthy males
The men of the Tees Valley also fell further behind the national average in terms of healthy life expectancy. Redcar & Cleveland showed the sharpest decline. But, as with women from Hartlepool, the health of the town’s men also deteriorated markedly.
Blame austerity
We all should be aware by now that austerity was an unmitigated disaster for our country and a political choice at that. Its subsequent plague of increased deprivation within the Tees Valley is no doubt a massive contributing factor to HLE rates. In fact this is demonstrated within Stockton-on-Tees. Residents of more affluent areas are expected to live a healthier life for 20 years longer than those from the most deprived.
The children of austerity
Recently published research from Oxford University reveals the damage inflicted on children by austerity. The cuts included the benefit cap, the bedroom tax, the two-child benefit limit, cuts to Universal Credit, and years of benefit rate freezes (which the Labour government have continued in disability benefit cuts to Universal Credit this month). Austerity has caused long-term harm to the health, education and life chances of a generation of children. The effects of the two-child cap have been particularly severe. The cap has only just been abolished.
Drink, drugs and inactivity
Another significant contributing factor to this bleak picture is lifestyle. We have higher levels of smoking, physical inactivity and alcohol induced harm alongside drug use. It has recently been reported that Middlesbrough has the highest levels of cocaine detected in its sewer system in the entirety of Europe.
There is some hope
But, all is not lost. The number of people smoking continues to decline thanks to NHS initiatives and Sport England has committed to investing £250mn to help tackle physical inactivity and health inequalities. Locally Tees Valley Sport are taking up that mantle. Whilst local councils are also putting together strategies to tackle issues surrounding alcohol use. The from Harm to Hope strategy implemented by the government to tackle drug use is seeing harm reduction strategies such as the training and use of naloxone within communities and outreach for users.
Head in the shed
Mental health is a big factor in what we are seeing locally and treatment here from specialised services are poor. So much so that the government has launched a public inquiry into the Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Trust which oversees this. If you or a loved one has been adversely affected by treatment from this trust you can contact Ison Harrison solicitors here.
We’re sick
Another factor we are seeing in the Tees Valley is higher levels of long-term illness and disability. Redcar & Cleveland saw a large increase of long-term illness from 23.9% in 2018 to 40.7% in 2022. It comes as no surprise when physical health services are under immense pressure and mental health services are crumbling.
Job, job, jobs
So, back to devolution and its promises of growth. “Jobs, jobs, jobs”, cries the mayor of Tees Valley Ben Houchen and leader of the first established Combined Authority in the country (which is currently under an extended Best Value Notice from the government). Has there finally been a shift in jobs growth in our region since this outlandish promise? I’ll leave you to my colleague Ray Casey and his thorough breakdown of this. Spoiler alert. The answer is no. Has the high wage economy finally graced us? Also no.
Disabled by society
As HLE affects people’s ability to work, their quality of life and demand on NHS and care services, it’s no wonder that economic productivity is at a staggering low. Jobs are in short supply for able bodied people, it’s a very difficult landscape to navigate as someone in ill health or with a disability.
Connect to work?
In regions like the Tees Valley, improving health isn’t just a medical issue, it’s central to economic regeneration and reducing inequality. Some Combined Authorities are putting together a strategy to close the disability employment gap and here in the Tees Valley we have the Connect to Work scheme that was launched earlier this year. It aims to help around 5000 disabled people move into sustainable employment. But, with the local jobs market in its current state and access to good quality NHS care still a pipe dream (though it is improving), the results are yet to be seen.
If you’ve taken part in the Connect to Work scheme and would like to speak about your experiences please get in touch. We’d love to hear your thoughts.
More devolution is on the way
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will soon be passed into law.So, will devolution bring the joined up public services we need to help stabilise the sharp decline in HLE? Or will it continue to bring more volatility to an already volatile situation?
Thank you to Ray Casey for contributing to this article.
