Left behind

You may not have come across this information but OCSI and Local Trust have developed a quantitative measure of left behind neighbourhoods using open data. 

From their own report: ‘To identify neighbourhoods that could be defined as left-behind we focused on the areas that suffered the dual disadvantage of:

• High levels of deprivation and socio-economic challenges
• Lacking in the community and civic assets, infrastructure and investment required to mitigate these challenges.

We identified the neighbourhoods that were ranked in the worst ten percent in both the Community Needs Index and Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2019.  This showed there were 225 ‘left-behind’ wards in England. 

The research shows concentrations of left-behind neighbourhoods in housing estates outlying big towns and cities, such as Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Hull and Stoke, as well as in post-industrial areas in northern England and coastal areas in southern England.’

The report relates to England only and of these 225 left behind neighbourhoods, 56 are in the North East of England. This region accounts for around 4.5% of England’s population yet has just under 25% of the left behind areas. On the face of this, this is a tragedy

Even thinking about it after I have calmed down, it is still a tragedy, our left behindness is off the scale. This is a telling insight into the huge amount of work that still needs to be done in the region. The problem is, as far as I can see, that these are pockets of extreme deprivation surrounded by areas of much greater advantage. Choppington, for example, is less than ten minutes drive from where I live.

Applying solutions across the region are unlikely to have an effect other than to exacerbate the disadvantages. Not all the boats will rise with the tide. Instead, specific targeted interventions are required, particularly around community and civic assets.

England is a rich country with a lot of poor people. Many of them are trapped in left behind communities. There is still a lot of levelling up to be done.

The full list of left behind neighbourhoods can be found here: 225 left behind https://ocsi.uk/2022/07/19/list-of-left-behind-neighbourhoods/