Annex A - Area Case Studies ANNEX Aii - PETERLEE 1. Peterlee is a new town in East Durham that was designed and built from 1950. Its foundation was part of a much wider plan for the area aimed at clearing away dereliction in a very polluted coalfield area, improving transport links and creating new jobs. 2. As part of the plan, people from the surrounding villages were re-housed in modern, new accommodation in Peterlee. They were encouraged to stay by a systematic policy to deny planning permission for all further village housing developments. This resulted in former residents of different village communities, each with their own distinct identities, living together side by side in what many felt to be a manufactured and alien environment. In some cases, a whole generation of people were displaced from their village communities. 3. The local economy boomed, but was almost totally dependent upon the coal mining industry. By 1950, three out of every five workers in the district were employed in coal mining or heavy industry. The lives of local people and their families were closely intertwined with the pits. The traditions of both employers and unions were paternalistic. People regarded the National Coal Board as not just a provider of jobs, but of community and social services. 4. Rapid closure of the pits in the 1980s and early 1990s meant the loss of one third of local jobs. They left the community in a state of shock, and the area suffering from serious social and economic problems. Typically, these include high rates of long term unemployment, serious health problems, chronic skills shortage, high youth unemployment and widespead disillusionment and disaffection. Pockets of deprivation exist which, in terms of the severity of disadvantage experienced, are on a par with inner city areas. The problems are compounded by a rural location and inadequate public transport links. Employment 5. The economy of East Durham has changed dramatically with dependence upon mining and heavy industry being replaced with a range of new industries. Between 1984 and 1991 the proportion of part time workers increased from 21% to 25% whilst the proportion of women in the labour market increased from 43% to 48%. A recent study into skills in County Durham produced the following findings. Occupational Distribution Occupational Group % Managers 6.9 Engineering Professionals 4.3 Other Professions 1.6 Clerical 5.5 Secretarial 1.5 Skilled Engineering Trades 10.3 Other Skilled Trades 6.3 Buyers and Sales Representatives 2.0 Other Sales 1.0 Machine Operators 22.1 Assembly Workers 21.0 Drivers 2.7 Other Occupations 14.7 Unspecified 0.2 Total 100 6. The tradition of public service employment and heavy industry has not facilitated the development of a large self-employed sector. Self employment is very low compared to the national average. 7. Increasingly, the skills base of an area is coming to be seen as a key component of local economic competitiveness. County Durham as a whole has a serious, long term structural skills shortage. A survey of County Durham employers' perceptions about skills carried out by Durham County Council and the County Durham TEC in 1996 showed that literacy and communication skills in potential employees were regarded as seriously deficient. Educational institutions 8. Peterlee has three secondary comprehensive schools - Shotton Hall, Dene House, and St. Bede's Peterlee R.C, all of which achieve significantly worse GCSE results than the average. The following table shows GCSE pupil/school performance for each school. Secondary Schools in Peterlee: Pupil/School Performance School Pupils %5+ A*-C %Zero A*-G Shotton Hall Comprehensive 207 22.2 15.5 Dene House Comprehensive 93 23.7 10.8 St. Bede's Peterlee R.C. Comprehensive 174 23.6 11.5 County Durham 35.7 7.4 England 46.1 6.6 Of these schools, only St. Bede's Peterlee R.C. Comprehensive has sixth form provision. 9. The majority of 16-18 year olds engaged in further education attend East Durham Community College which, in addition, offers a wide range of vocational and non-vocational training to the surrounding community. 10. A partnership led by the Local Education Authority has had an application to designate Peterlee as an Education Action Zone shortlisted. It is proposed that the EAZ will be located within Easington District (in which Peterlee falls), within the area of the East Durham Task Force. Through joint working with schools, the EAZ aims to raise the attainment of all pupils, improve attendance, improve the 'staying-on' rate, reduce exclusions at secondary level, improve basic skills, improve 'employability' and social skills, engage parents in learning and support families in need. 11. Sustainable systems are proposed which aim to promote continuous improvement leading to higher standards. These include early intervention, developing learning and social skills with families, the presence of other adults in the classroom and closer active involvement of partners in business and the community to facilitate the delivery of a well resourced and relevant curriculum. Previous Regeneration Activity 12. From the 1950's onwards, programmes of renewal focused on clearing away the visible dereliction and environmental legacy of mining, providing new infrastructure and communications and attracting inward investment and new jobs. In particular, a great deal of local authority resources were devoted to rectifying the structural housing problems in Peterlee following the transfer from the CNT to local authorities. 13. More recently, the focus on regeneration in East Durham and the county as a whole has been in the creation of new jobs. 14. The East Durham Task Force is an umbrella body formed in 1991 to examine the needs of the area and co-ordinate a range of activities aimed at addressing these. It brought together the main partners in order to prepare a response to the anticipated closure of the area's collieries. A 10 year regeneration package 'Programme for Action' was launched the same year. 15. While the Task Force has a long list of achievements to its credit, it has not been successful at securing significant amounts of public funding for the area. There is a very strong view in County Durham that this is because decisions about the allocation of Government funding give too little weight to the problems of rural deprivation. Main Agencies Council for Voluntary Services County Durham and Darlington Training & Enterprise Council Durham County Council Durham University; and County Durham Careers Service Durham College of Agriculture and Horticulture Easington District Council East Durham Compact East Durham Community College East Durham Development Agency Employment Service Government Office for the North East Groundwork East Durham North East Chamber of Commerce Main issues emerging There is a very strong sense of local identity in Peterlee and the surrounding villages and people feel a strong sense of attachment to and pride in their local community. Nevertheless, people are concerned that this sense of attachment increasingly fails to translate into a willingness on the part of local people to do something active in their local community. There is a concern that, as hard times for the area seem to have lasted so long, apathy is on the rise. We were told that local agencies in the education and training field do not always co-operate well - individuals and organisations sometimes seem to put their own interests first rather than working together to achieve the common good. Lack of adequate public transport isolates communities from employment and learning opportunities. Even when opportunities lie on their doorstep, people seem reluctant to travel even short distances to take advantage of training provision and employment opportunities. Quality of life issues - vandalism, drug abuse, housing - all impact on the outlook that individuals have towards improving themselves. Many adults express concern about the prospects for local young people, who often seem to suffer from low self-esteem and low expectations of themselves. The right amount of support and encouragement is not always forthcoming in families where 3 or 4 generations have suffered from unemployment. Funding systems only seem to have been able to offer short-term solutions for complex long term problems. Many of the effects of the further education funding methodology appear from a local perspective to be perverse. The main growth industry in Peterlee at present is call-centres - the college in the town were told that they could have funding for a course in mining engineering, but not for a course to prepare people for work in call-centres. The bitter irony of this in a disadvantaged former pit community is hard to overstate. Though formal and informal networks exist, responsibility for "joining things up" on the local scene is diffuse Some small local organisations are doing excellent work on a shoestring People that work in local community and voluntary organisations are proud of what they do and want recognition for their work. They are very keen to point out that they are professionals, yet don't seem to be treated as such, particularly by Government agencies. They feel that the very demanding and important work they do is not valued. Examples of Good Practice East Durham Community College Pride House Relevant Local Research East Durham Programme for Action - The Road to Success 1997-2001, The East Durham Task Force. Rural Poverty - a study of economic and social exclusion in the villages of County Durham, The Local Identity Agency. Skills in County Durham, County Durham TEC and Durham County Council. Young people not in education, training or employment in East Durham, University of Durham. Organisations and Individuals Consulted Caterpillar Peterlee Ltd Council for Voluntary Services County Durham Careers Service County Durham Constabulary County Durham TEC John Cummings MP Dene House Comprehensive School, Peterlee Durham County Council - discussions held with: Director of Education; Deputy Director Education; Senior Policy Officer, Education; Senior Inspector, Education; Community Education Manager; Community Education Co-ordinator for East Durham; and Senior Community Education Worker, Peterlee Youth Centre. Easington District Council East Durham Community College - discussions held with: Principal, Vice Principal and staff; and Student Focus Group. Government Office North East The G.T. Group New Horizons Project Data Adult population 38,861 Ethnic minorities 0.6% Unemployment rate 10.2% (18-24 year olds - 17.5%) Long-Term Unemployment 36.4% Households receiving benefit 7,300 on Income Support Households without a car 39.7% School leavers with 5+ GCSEs at grades A-C 22.6% School leavers with no qualifications 14.7% Lone parent households 13.9% Under-16 pregnancies per 1000 conceptions 13.3 Burglary per 1000 households 10.98 Violent Crime per 1000 population 7.84

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