1. Tackling Poverty Together Less talk, more action....

2. The evidence.... Some facts and the impact of poverty... What’s stopping us....?

3. The evidence – Is well known – Hasn’t changed much over the years – Is, generally speaking, obvious and common sense – Like many more complex and stubborn issues, requires lots of agencies, institutions, individuals to do things together – I would argue, we don’t need any more, we just need to act upon it Tackling Poverty Together Less talk, more action....

4. Some facts... – The North East Region has the highest child poverty rate in the UK (before housing cost adj) and second (after housing cost adj) – Fewer poor children: Live with two parents Have two adults in work – More poor children: Live with lone parents Have a parent(s) working part time Source: Child and Maternal Poverty in N East Baseline Report March 2011 Tackling Poverty Together Less talk, more action....

5. Some facts.... – Risk of sudden infant death Weekly Income below £60 = 9.5:1 Weekly Income above £200 = 1.00 – % of Mental Disorders in 5-15 year olds Weekly Income £100 = 16% Weekly Income £400 = 5-6% – Lots of other evidence re: poorer health outcomes after surgery if in poverty etc, etc, etc.... Health consequences of Poverty for Children (GMB) Tackling Poverty Together Less talk, more action....

6. So, we know the facts and we know that, for children... – Early intervention counts – Working with people rather than handing down to people counts – Schools and Education are key – The personal touch is important – Joining up is critical – Need to use the tools we use very day to test, evaluate, refine approaches etc. Tackling Child Poverty: What works –Steve McCormack NFER Tackling Poverty Together Less talk, more action....

7. So, what’s stopping us... – Too much strategy and strategy groups ? – Feeding the regulatory beasts ? – Protecting institutional resources ? – Politics ? – More Focus on practical actions than strategy ? – It’s difficult to make it easy for people to do the right thing ? Tackling Poverty Together Less talk, more action....

8. So, what can we do to sort this out......? Tackling Poverty Together Less talk, more action....

9. Thank you