THE North East has set out an ambition to lead the nation in bringing down “immoral” child poverty rates blighting the lives of thousands of families.

Mayor Kim McGuinness was in London on Thursday to meet with the Government’s new child poverty task force, co-chaired by education secretary and Sunderland MP Bridget Phillipson.

It comes after she and the region’s council leaders formally backed plans earlier this week to set up a new child poverty reduction unit, which will be the first of its kind in the country.

More than 118,000 children are living in poverty across Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham, according to recent research from the End Child Poverty Coalition.

Speaking at a North East Combined Authority (NECA) meeting on Tuesday (September 17), Ms McGuinness said she wanted the region to become a “national model and a national pilot for how we as a country approach child poverty”.

The unit is expected to deliver measures including a new grant to support parents, particularly women, who struggle to get back into work because of the cost of paying for childcare.

Ms McGuinness told Tuesday’s meeting in North Tyneside that it was her “number one priority” to bring down “crippling” levels of child poverty.

The Labour mayor said: “We all want to see growth, we all want to see success, we want everyone in our region to have access to real opportunity regardless of their background. But if we don’t solve the poverty that blights too many households, we will never get that in the sustainable way we need and we will never have opportunity for every kid.”

A NECA report admits that the new unit, which will begin work after a special child poverty summit is convened later this year and has an initial £500,000 of starter funding, “will not solve the problem” itself but described it as an “important starting point” that could provide accountability and a “targeted route into Government”.

Ms McGuinness added: “Nothing is off the table when it comes to tackling this issue. We have to use everything in our armoury because every child here deserves the very best.”

The child poverty rate in the North East in 2021/22 was 35% compared to a national rate of 29 per cent, with around seven in 10 children living in poverty being from working families.

Glen Sanderson, the Conservative leader of Northumberland County Council, said: “It is not just disappointing, it is immoral that in 2024 a child born in one location should not have the same opportunities to move on in life as someone born in a different place maybe just 10 miles down the road. That has got to be wrong.”

The Government announced in July that it would be setting up a new child poverty taskforce, co-chaired by Ms Phillipson and the work and pension secretary Liz Kendall.

They heard from Ms McGuinness and other local government leaders on Thursday about the “stark challenges” to be overcome to help the more than four million children growing up in a low-income family 

Ms Phillipson, the MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, said: “Poverty constrains every part of a child’s life and blights our communities. Tackling it is crucial if we are to break down the barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child.

“This task cannot be achieved alone and I’m grateful to local leaders on the frontline for their invaluable insight on the challenges families are facing, and the innovative approaches they’re using to tackle them.”