'Unacceptable level of poverty must be tackled'

GATESHEAD Council bosses are preparing an anti-poverty strategy amid startling statistics showing one in three residents live in poverty.

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Council officers alongside other organisations are undertaking work to develop an anti-poverty campaign, as the institution battles with damning local figures. According to a council report, drawn from previous data from the Indices of Multiple Deprivation, Gateshead is the 47th most deprived local authority in England out of 317.

This also equates to almost a third of residents (62,600) living in the top 20% of deprived areas in England, with half of those living in the top 10% of the most deprived areas.