"Left behind" neighbourhoods 46% more likely to die from Covid-19

People living in England's "left behind" communities were 46% more likely to die from Covid-19 than those in the rest of the country, a new report has found.

The study also found that people in these neighbourhoods work longer hours and live shorter lives, with more years in ill health, according to a joint report by the All-Parliamentary Party Group (APPG) for "left behind" neighbourhoods (LBNs) and the Northern Health Science Alliance.

LBNs differ from regular deprived areas by having fewer social and cultural assets, on top of economic problems.

What are the findings from the study?

The joint report identified 225 LBNs across England, which are predominantly in post-industrial and coastal areas in the North and the Midlands - as well as coastal areas in the South.

Their residents have markedly worse socio-economic outcomes than the residents of other equally deprived areas.

The study found:

• People living in LBNs were 46% more likely to die from Covid-19 than those in the rest of England and 7% more likely to have died of the virus than those living in regular deprived areas.
• Life expectancy for men was 3.7 years fewer than average and three years fewer for women.
• People in these neighbourhoods can expect to live 7.5 fewer years in good health than their counterparts in the rest of England.
• LBNs lack places to meet, connectivity, good transport links and an active and engaged community.

"A lack of investment in key services has meant that more deprived, 'left behind' neighbourhoods - particularly in the north - have suffered disproportionately"

The APPG's co-chair, Paul Howell, who is Tory MP for Sedgefield, said: "Health is at the forefront of all our minds right now. The findings from this report are clear, people living in 'left behind' neighbourhoods are overall worse off when it comes to health and something needs to change."

Co-author Professor Clare Bambra, a public health expert at Newcastle University, said: "For too long, a lack of investment in key services has meant that more deprived, 'left behind' neighbourhoods - particularly in the north - have suffered disproportionately.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened these inequalities and it will cast a long shadow across our future heath and economic prosperity as a country unless we act now. That's why levelling up health needs to be central to the Government's overall approach to levelling up the country."

What defines a 'left behind' neighbourhood?

Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) were commissioned by Local Trust to assess levels of social infrastructure in all the wards in England.

Three area characteristics were looked at in their assessment which helped create a first of its kind Community Needs Index.

The first characteristic was 'places to meet'. This looked into whether there is an absence of community, as well as the civic, educational and cultural assets in or in close proximity to the area .

'An active and engaged community' was the second characteristic. Through this, community and civic participation was assessed.

OCSI also assessed 'connectedness', where solation, connectivity to key services, digital infrastructure and the strength of the local jobs market were all assessed.

OCSI overlaid the Community Needs Index with the Index of Multiple Deprivation to find those communities that suffer from the highest levels of combined social, cultural and economic deprivation.

Those wards that rank in the top 10% most deprived on both indices, are perhaps the most ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods in England.

Left Behind said: 'We do not use ‘left behind’ to imply that the areas so described lack people with skills and commitment or a rich heritage.

'However, such areas have tended not to receive their fair share of available investment and they therefore lack the services and facilities that many of us take for granted.

'It is these services and facilities that help to connect people in a community and bind them together, providing the opportunity for residents to develop and prosper. It is in this sense that they are ‘left behind’.'

Where are the "left behind" communities?

The North East has 56 ‘left behind’ wards, whilst the North West has 54.

The East Midlands has 17 wards and the West Midlands 31 whilst Yorkshire and the Humber has 28 wards.

Meanwhile there are 16 wards across the South East, predominantly located along the coast.

In 2019 a study was published by Left Behind which indicated that 206 neighbourhoods across England could be described as ‘left behind’.

Updated data, which was collected in 2020, shows that the number of ‘left behind’ areas had grown to 225.

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