'Massive team effort' to close town's life expectancy gap

REDUCING GAPS BETWEEN MOST AND LEAST DEPRIVED AREAS IS MAJOR PRIORITY

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT

STOCKTON town centre continues to battle against some of the lowest life expectancies in the country.

The town centre has a life expectancy of 67.4 years for men and 71.8 years for women, according to the most recent figures.

Councillor Paul Rowling, the deputy leader of Stockton Council who represents the town centre ward, said the figure for women was the lowest in any ward in England, while the male figure was the second lowest.

“It’s a major problem,’ he said. “If you compare that with the Northern Parishes, the gap is 15.8 years for men and 13.9 years for women.

“That's the third biggest gap in the country in terms of the most and least deprived wards.

In the council’s public health report for 2023-4, the gap between the town centre ward and the most affluent ward, then said to be Ingleby Barwick East, was as wide as 16.7 years for men, 18.5 years for women.

Men in the latter ward had a life expectancy of 84 for men, 90 for women.

“There's a massive, massive gap,” Cllr Rowling told The Gazette, saying the council's Stockton-on-Tees Plan, drawn up last year to set out a vision for the borough’s future, aimed to close that gap. “We're making good progress but there's still a long way to go.”

Office for National Statistics figures show Stockton’s healthy life expectancy - the measurement of people reporting themselves to be in good health, rather than how long they are expected to live - was 56.5 years for men, almost 57 in women.