One of the region’s “Metro Mayors” has made a commitment to £1 youth fares on public transport as part of her action plan to tackle child poverty.

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness will today (Mon Nov 18) announce a multi-million pound package aimed at overcoming child poverty issues in the region, by helping young people travel to educational and employment opportunities.

The announcement comes ahead of the region’s first Child Poverty Summit, where the Mayor is expected to confirm a £50m package to help 13,500 people who face barriers due to health and disability, to find and stay in work.

She will also confirm a further £1.4m will be invested throughout the year to roll out support across North East schools to help parents and children.

The measures include financial advice ‘at the school gate’, aimed at helping to cut the cost of the school day, with free after-school clubs and learning sessions.

(Image: North East Combined Authority) New parents will receive ‘baby boxes’ to help give their children the best start in life.

There will also be an extension of the £1 fare-cap for young people aged 21 and under on bus, Metro and Tyne ferry services next year.

She is also committed to doing “everything possible” to keep that affordable fare in place until 2028.  

The Mayor will outline her vision in a keynote speech at the summit in Sunderland to representatives from business, the voluntary sector and public organisations engaged in the fight against child poverty. 

She said: “Today marks a major step forward in our fight against child poverty and making the North East the home of real opportunity.

“For too long, our destiny, and those of families in our region, has been set by Westminster and Whitehall making decisions on our behalf, and the abject failure of markets to bring opportunity, jobs and investment we know people need.  

“The North East has had the unwelcome tag of the highest child poverty rates for the past 25 years.

“Now we say: ‘Enough is enough.’

“We’re making progress to help families and young people in the here and now, and putting in the foundations to help the next generation of families, the infrastructure of opportunity.  

“Our measures will help people find work, cut the cost of travel and ensure children have the very best start in life.” 

(Image: Beacon of Light) The summit brings regional leaders together to develop the work of the Child Poverty Reduction Unit, which was announced by the Mayor and the North East Combined Authority Cabinet in September.

Mayor McGuinness will extend an invitation to the private, public and voluntary sectors to play their part in shaping the unit’s work and developing the North East’s strategy to tackle child poverty.  

Councillor Tracey Dixon, the leader of South Tyneside Council and a Cabinet Member for Education, Inclusion and Skills on the North East Combined Authority, said: “There are staggering levels of child poverty within our region, and it is impossible not to feel emotional when you hear the conditions that many of our families are living in.

(Image: The Northern Echo) “While there is a huge amount of work going on to alleviate poverty across the North East, instead of dealing with the effects of poverty, we need to stop people being in poverty in the first place. 

“The measures outlined by the Mayor are just the start.

“Most of the levers to action real change are still in the control of central Government and we will continue to fight for our region.

“Together, we can address child poverty.

“We need change and quickly.

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“It feels like a moment we need to harness, we have a Government task force, a regional Child Poverty Reduction Unit and child poverty strategies in progress locally, regionally, and nationally.

“The time is now for everyone to make a difference, to have the bravery and courage to tackle child poverty so that we can break the cycle and improve outcomes for our young people.

Today’s (Mon Nov 18) summit, at The Beacon of Light, is expected to attract more than 300 delegates to the educational complex close to Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light.