Member Article

Profile of region reveals strengths

The strengths and weaknesses of different areas of the North East have been revealed by a report released this week. The City Regions Report, broken down to cover the Southern and Northern areas of the North East, has been prepared by the North East Regional Information Partnership (NERIP).

The report found that employment has grown in the Tees Valley since 2003, to a level in excess of the current North East average. In addition, the economy in Tyne and Wear has grown by 28 per cent since 1999, a faster rate than the overall economy of the region. The report also found that house prices in the south, which covers Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool, Darlington and Hambleton, have grown by 132 per cent since 2003.

Jon Carling, Head of NERIP, said: “We have produced these reports to inform the debate in the North East about City Regions, and they highlight how far the North East has come in recent decades. “The findings of the report are certainly encouraging, in particular that in the south of the region employment has grown and that in the north the economy is growing at a faster rate than the rest of the North East. “But we know there are still gaps to fill before we are competing with our regional counterparts.”

As well as the positives, the City Regions Report also highlighted areas where more needs to be done. NERIP notes that there are pockets of high levels of worklessness in both city regions which need to be addressed.

Full copies of these reports can be found in the ‘Reports and Briefings’ section of www.nerip.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .