Areas left behind in virus crisis
THE coronavirus pandemic has put the region’s most deprived neighbourhoods including in Halton at risk of falling further behind, a group of MPs has claimed.
In a new report, the AllParty Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Left Behind Neighbourhoods warned that people in these areas not only face a higher risk of catching coronavirus, they are also likely to be hit harder by the looming recession than those living elsewhere.
The report identified 225 council wards across the country as ‘left behind neighbourhoods’, appearing in the worst 10% of areas for both deprivation and community needs.
More than 10% of those wards, 24 in total, were in the Liverpool City Region.
The group’s chair, Sedgefield MP Paul Howell, said: “Home to greater numbers of people susceptible to worsened economic, social and wellbeing outcomes as a consequence of the pandemic, ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods are at real risk of serious, long-term damage.”
People living in these wards face higher risks of contracting coronavirus, thanks to high rates of long-term serious health conditions such as cancer, obesity and asthma.
They are also more likely to be employed in the health and social care sectors, meaning they are more likely to be exposed to the virus.
But as well as being more vulnerable to the virus itself, residents of ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods are more likely to suffer the economic consequences of the lockdown and any subsequent recession.
More than 10% of working age adults in these neighbourhoods are now unemployed, compared to 6.5% of adults across England as a whole and more than a third of children are living in families where adults are claiming benefits.
Residents of these neighbourhoods also face a more uncertain future, given high levels of employment in retail and other sectors facing significant job cuts, and a lack of support from the community and voluntary sector compared with the rest of the country.
In all, the report paints a bleak picture of disadvantaged neighbourhoods slipping further behind the rest of the country.
Three of the region’s boroughs, Halton, Knowsley and Wirral, feature heavily in some of the most alarming numbers in the report.
Halton has the highest number of ‘left behind’ neighbourhoods in the city region, with eight council wards identified in the report.
Most of these wards are in Runcorn, including Halton Lea which has the city region’s highest Covid-19 mortality rate.
Halton Lea is also in the top 10 of left behind neighbourhoods for people claiming disability living allowance and providing unpaid care, along with neighbouring Halton Castle. Only two of the left behind wards – Appleton and Hough Green – are in Widnes.
Halton’s left behind wards are: Appleton, Halton Castle, Grange, Halton Brook, Halton Lea, Hough Green, Mersey, Norton South.