54 ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods across the North West, with already pre-existing socio-economic deprivation prior to the pandemic, are suffering more from the economic, social and health impacts of COVID than other areas.

• Across Merseyside specifically, 10.8% of working age adults are now unemployed in
  these Yorkshire-based wards compared to 6.5% across England; the proportion of children aged 0-15 living in families where adults are in receipt of out-of-work benefits sits at 33.6% compared to the national average of 13.5%.

• Prior to COVID, these areas had a greater prevalence of high-risk health conditions compared to England as a whole, for example higher levels of obesity (13.4% to 9.8%) and diabetes (7.5% to 6.8%), as well as lower levels of physical activity - 52.9% of those aged over 16 are ‘physically active’ in these wards, compared to a national average of 62.5%.

• The COVID-19 vulnerability index, which maps out clinical, demographic and social vulnerability, in addition to health inequalities, sees these wards scored at a much higher 145.3 than the national average of 85.9

These factors combined mean that, across the North West, areas that were already worse off now
risk being less well-equipped than the rest of the country to face the economic and social challenges ahead, early data suggests.

These neighbourhoods measured at a ward level, are places facing a combination of deprivation, a lack of social facilities and low levels of community activity and already had relatively worse health, education and employment outcomes before the pandemic, there are 225 in total across England.

The data commissioned by Local Trust from Oxford Centre for Social Inclusion (OCSI) gives an early suggestion that these areas, often located on the edge of towns and cities, risk falling further behind as government investment, such as the Stronger Towns Fund, focus on delivering improvements to town and city centres.

This week an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has been established to further investigate the underlying issues in these neighbourhoods.

With residents in the 225 ‘left behind’ wards totalling just under 2.4million, 4.3% of England’s population, these places suffer from a combination of social and economic deprivation, poor connectivity (physical and digital),
low levels of community engagement and a lack of community spaces and places. As a result, they have typically been less well-equipped to deal with the fallout from coronavirus than other similarly deprived areas.

Despite this, organisations in ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods received less than half the funding per head in COVID-related grants than other deprived areas and around a third of the average levels of England as a whole. Whilst in many communities, the COVID pandemic led to a growth in volunteering and community
action, there were notably lower concentrations of mutual aid groups in ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods with only 3.5 groups per 100,000 population, half that of similarly deprived areas (7.7 per 100,000 population) and around a third of England’s amount (10.6 per 100,000 population).

Each of the 225 neighbourhoods ranked within the top 10% of both the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and the Community Needs Index (CNI) prior to COVID and new data from the 2019 IMD also showed an increase in the number of areas in England falling into this bracket from 206 to 225.

The APPG for ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods will examine ways to support these communities to ensure they are more resilient and have better prospects in the future. 

Member of the APPG for 'left behind' neighbourhoods, Peter Dowd MP (Bootle) said: 'The fact that these areas have been neglected for years is nothing new to representatives throughout the area, with COVID’s impact only serving to exacerbate existing inequalities and further entrench disadvantage. These ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods, in Bootle and across Merseyside, need our support more than ever, and I’ll be advocating in the strongest possible terms for my constituents through this new APPG.”

Matt Leach, chief executive of Local Trust, the secretariat for the APPG said: “ We know from that when the crisis first struck, in many places it was local people who were the first responders, working with community groups, providing vital help to the vulnerable and getting food parcels out to those in needed. We can also see that some areas – particularly those lacking places to meet and strong local community organisations to bring them together – missed out; often places already suffering from significant economic and social disadvantage.

“As we move from tackling the health crisis to the challenge of building a strong post-COVID economy, we need to ensure that all communities have the potential to play their part in contributing to that recovery.”