Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, has warned North East households will be left behind if the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, fails to address the region’s growing poverty in Wednesday’s spring statement.
With the cost-of-living crisis believed to be hitting struggling families in the North East the hardest, the Commissioner is piling on the pressure ahead of the budget. She is urging the Government to offer more help to the growing number of people in the region who are finding it hard to pay their bills.
Ahead of the Chancellor’s financial update, the Commissioner has warned that those growing up in deprived areas are far more likely to be a victim of crime – and this needs addressing urgently.
Illustrating her concerns, she points to worrying research by the University of Manchester which shows children growing up in poverty are seven times more likely to harm themselves and be involved in violent crimes as young adults. Findings elsewhere in England have also shown 80% more crimes were recorded in the most income-deprived areas – something which the Commissioner believes highlights the importance of fighting poverty.
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, said: “The Chancellor has a clear choice. He takes the opportunity to address poverty now or he leaves North East households to face rising costs and poverty.
“He needs to come up with something drastic to help ordinary struggling people” she continued. “We are sick and tired up here. 11 kids in every class of 30 in our region are living in poverty. Never mind heating bills, some kids don’t even have a warm winter coat to go to school in. It’s both heart-breaking and disgusting that we are even in this position.”
She went on to explain: “If we reduce the number of families in poverty we will reduce the number of victims of crime. We need to back our young people with opportunities that divert them away from causing trouble. Any police officer here will tell you, we cannot simply arrest our way out of crime.”
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