Organisational business plan

Location and Population

North Tyneside is located on the North-East coast of England and is bounded by Newcastle upon Tyne to the west, the North Sea on the east, the River Tyne to the south, and Northumberland to the north. 

North Tyneside has a population of 211,769 and the population is projected to grow by 3.1% by 2030. The proportion of residents aged over 65 years is projected to increase by 17.6%, over 75's by 18.5%, and over 85's by 12.8% up to 2030, with those aged 0-19 decreasing by 1%. The median age of North Tyneside’s population is currently 43.3 years. 

The Borough has a relatively small ethnic minority community population, which accounts for 5.1% of the overall population. A further 2.4% of residents are from white minority backgrounds.

Across North Tyneside there are around 96,000 households. Of these, 64% are owner occupied, 21% are social rented (including council and housing association) and 15% are privately rented. The remaining 1% of homes are shared ownership.

Economy

North Tyneside has a proud industrial heritage and, like many parts of the North East, was a centre of heavy industry centred on ship building and coal mining. Today most of the heavy industry has ceased but a strong approach to regeneration has seen a diverse economy develop made up of traditional manufacturing and engineering industries, as well as a mix of exciting new sectors including digital, health and life sciences and renewable energy.  As an example, North Tyneside is home to two significant business parks, Cobalt Business Park being the UK’s largest commercial office park.

There are 5,365 VAT or PAYE registered enterprises based in North Tyneside. This has been supported by the Authority’s award winning Business Factory which helps start-up businesses in the Borough.  Small and medium sized enterprises with high growth potential are supported by the Business Factory’s Aspire Programme.

These businesses are delivering good job opportunities for residents in North Tyneside and the region. Previously the number of jobs in the Borough had shown an increase each year since 2011, but this fell to 89,000 in 2020, largely attributable to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, before rising to 95,000 in 2023. As of September 2024 unemployment stands at 4.4%, the same as the North East rate and higher than the UK figure of 3.7%. 

In addition North Tyneside has a successful year-round visitor economy attracting around 6 million visitors a year, generating over £350 million and supporting over 3,500 jobs.

North Tyneside – a great place to live, work and visit

North Tyneside is fortunate to have an outstanding natural environment. This is a clear driver of satisfaction with the local area and is a priority for many residents in making North Tyneside good place to live.

Three of North Tyneside’s beaches are among only 61 across the country to win both a Blue Flag and a Seaside Award. King Edward’s Bay, Tynemouth Longsands and Whitley Bay have achieved Blue Flag status every year since 1994.  There are eight warden managed parks, all of which continue to retain their Green Flag Awards, an internationally recognised benchmark of quality. 

From the historic Fish Quay in North Shields with its proud fishing heritage and busy new commercial enterprises to our well-connected towns with their first-class shopping, restaurants and entertainment facilities, North Tyneside boasts many attractions. This includes the annual Mouth of the Tyne Festival at the spectacular Tynemouth Priory and Castle. 

The 2024 Residents Survey shows that 77% of residents believe North Tyneside is a good place to live. Whitley Bay is regularly named as the best place to live in the North-East and one of the best places to live in Britain. Tynemouth has previously received the same accolades. These awards were due to our beautiful coastline and thoughtful regeneration across the Borough. 

North Tyneside also provides a two and three tier education system that performs strongly at both regional and national level. Yet persistent inequalities exist and residents wish to see continued improvement. 

Resident Issues

2024 Residents Survey

The findings from the 2024 Residents Survey show Authority meets national benchmarks for value for money and local satisfaction. Indeed, it is above average for keeping residents informed. However, improvements should be made to the organisation’s responsiveness to residents' concerns. Responsiveness is a key driver in helping us to be seen as providing value for money, which itself is a key driver for overall satisfaction with the Authority.

Increasing local area satisfaction is also an area for improvement, particularly with regard to addressing anti-social behavior, delivering clean streets, and making road and pavement repairs, which, as in 2022, continue to be priorities for residents.

As in 2022, the 2024 survey continues to highlight local disparities, particularly lower satisfaction in the Southern Area of the Borough. More details can be found here [add link to 2024 Residents Survey once it is published in June 2025].

Key actions taken since the 2022 Residents Survey

Since the 2022 Residents Survey was undertaken the Authority has: 

• committed to invest more than £8m over the next four years to maintain roads and pavements. This is on top of the government funding allocated to councils by the North East Combined Authority for road maintenance, which totals around £2.8m in each of the next two years. North Tyneside has also received an additional £1.1m in government funding via the Combined Authority for 2025/26.
• launched its £1.5 m Neat Streets Strategy for cleaner, greener, safer neighbourhoods. This initiative has allowed new staff, vehicles and equipment to be deployed across North Tyneside, with a particular focus on keeping housing estates, open spaces, town centres and the coastline neat and tidy. This investment includes a digital reporting system to make it easier for residents to report issues such as dog fouling, fly-tipping and graffiti; plus extra support for council tenants to dispose of waste.
• worked as a member of the multi-agency North Tyneside Anti-Social Behaviour Task Force to develop and deliver a shared plan to tackle anti-social behaviour. The amount of anti-social behaviour reported to Northumbria Police has decreased by 38% over the last five years in North Tyneside, however rates of anti-social behaviour and crime are persistently higher in the Borough’s riverside wards. 

In addition,  a new approach to community engagement will be implemented in 2025 – see OBP section 'Crosscutting strategic delivery priorities' for details.

Deprivation

North Tyneside ranks 128 out of 317 local authorities nationally and, behind Northumberland, is one of the least deprived areas in the North-East. Deprivation has reduced compared to the rest of England, however some areas of the Borough, particularly in Wallsend Central, Howdon, Chirton & Percy Main and North Shields wards, continue to experience persistently high levels of deprivation and are ranked as in the 20% most deprived areas in England. The people who live there experience fewer years living in good health, lower life expectancy and lower participation and attainment in post 16 education.

Figure 1: National rank of Index of Multiple Deprivation by Lower Super Output Area

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Health

In the last two decades, many indicators of health and wellbeing have improved significantly in North Tyneside, however on average they continue to remain worse than those for England. Health inequalities persist within the Borough, resulting a  mixed picture of health and wellbeing across the Borough. 

Mental and physical health is shaped by a diverse range of social, economic and environmental factors. Access to good jobs; decent, affordable homes; and safe neighbourhoods all shape our health. These essential conditions vary and can drive social and health inequalities. These conditions influence people’s opportunities for good health and how they think, feel and act. 

Following decades of rising life expectancy, the last decade as seen average life expectancy at birth in North Tyneside stall for both males and females. This is consistent with trends across England and was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. For males life expectancy is currently 77.7 years, higher than the North East average (third best in the region after Northumberland, and Stockton), but significantly lower (1.4 years) than that for England. Life expectancy for females is currently 82.1 years. This is better than the North East average (and second best after Northumberland) but 1 year less than the England average.

Life expectancy is closely related to deprivation. People living in the least deprived areas live significantly longer than those in deprived areas. In North Tyneside men living in the most deprived areas live 11.4 years less those in the least deprived areas and women 9.9 years less. There is a social gradient to health. Men and women in the Borough’s most deprived areas, on average spend 14.5 fewer years in good health compared their counterparts in the least deprived communities 

The North Tyneside Health and Wellbeing Board approved a Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy ‘Equally Well: A healthier, fairer future for North Tyneside 2021-2025’to focus on addressing health inequalities in the Borough.  Equally Well aims to reduce inequalities by breaking the link between people’s circumstances and their opportunities for a healthy, thriving and fulfilled life. It’s ambitions are as follows.

• Equal life chances for all - taking a life course approach to promote and protect health, focused on enabling the poorest and most vulnerable communities to overcome the challenges of health and social inequalities.
• Thriving places and communities - creating the conditions in all of our communities to find good work, feel supported, live healthily and meet everyone’s needs fairly, both now and in the future. Mobilising assets within communities, promoting equity and increasing people’s control over their health and lives.
• Maintaining independence - Focusing on prevention and early intervention so people live longer with more years in good health. Ensure that support and services are integrated, easily accessible and enable our limited resources to be focused on those with the greatest need. 

Further Public Health information can be found in the Authority’s Joint Strategic Health Assessment (JSNA) here.