Mayor outlines plans to tackle child poverty

The North East mayor has outlined plans to tackle child poverty, saying "enough is enough".

Kim McGuinness announced she would channel funding into after-school clubs, employment support and discounting transport fares.

Speaking at the region's first Child Poverty Summit, McGuinness said a £50m package of government funding would be used to match people with jobs who face barriers due to health and disability.

Meanwhile, the Labour-elected mayor extended the £1 fare cap for people aged 21 and under on buses, the Metro and Shields Ferry, to next year and said she hoped to keep it in place until 2028.

"The North East has had the unwelcome tag of the highest child poverty rates for the past 25 years," she told the summit at the Beacon of Light in Sunderland.

"Now we say, 'enough is enough'."

The government said local action was "exactly what we need to drive up employment and drive down poverty".

The mayor represents two million people living in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham.

McGuinness also announced plans for:

• After-school clubs and family learning sessions in 220 schools
• Financial and welfare advice in 85 schools, to help families claim support
• 1,500 baby boxes to be delivered to new parents on low incomes

The £50m investment for the employment programme was funded by the Department for Work and Pensions.

It will also be used to work with employers to help people who benefit from the scheme stay in work.

Meanwhile, the youth transport fare cap will be funded by a £23.8m share of the £1bn bus improvement funding announced for England at the weekend.

Unlike some other parts of the north, however, McGuinness is not putting the transport funding towards an extension of the £2 fare cap for adult passengers, which the government announced last month would rise to £3 in 2025.

According to the government, bus fares will only be allowed to increase with inflation and the £3 bus fare cap will lead to savings of up to 80% on some routes across the country.

A spokesman said a taskforce was developing an "ambitious strategy" to tackle child poverty, while extending some existing benefits to "give children the best start in life".

Additional reporting by Daniel Holland, Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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