North East boroughs set to pilot Place-Based Budget Programme
South Tyneside and Gateshead are set to pilot the Government’s new Placed-Based Budget Programme.
The Government has selected South Tyneside and Gateshead as pilots for its new Place-Based Budget Programme, which looks to transform how public services work together to prevent youth offending and improve life chances for young people.
Delivered with the support of North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, the pilot will focus on the radical prevention of youth offending.
In order to do so, it will bring councils, police, health, education and voluntary sector partners together to jointly redesign early support for children and young people up to the age of 25.
The programme will test pooled budgets, shared data, and joined-up decision-marking to tackle issues early.
Cllr Tracey Dixon, Leader of South Tyneside Council, said: “Being chosen as a national pilot is a huge step forward for our borough. It gives us the tools to redesign support around young people.
“Earlier, smarter and together. Prevention works, and by breaking down organisational barriers we can reduce youth offending, improve life chances and ease pressure on overstretched crisis services.
“This is about giving our young people the brightest future possible.”
The North East has some of the highest not in education, employment, or training (NEET) rates, school exclusions and levels of economic inactivity in England.
The pilot will aim to give South Tyneside and Gateshead the chance to replace fragmented crisis response with earlier, coordinated help that is rooted in prevention.
Cllr Martin Gannon, Leader of Gateshead Council, added: “This confirmation recognises the strength of partnership working already embedded across our region.
“Too many young people face challenges that we know can be prevented with the right support at the right time.
“This pilot allows us to build a more integrated, compassionate and efficient system that delivers real, lasting change for our communities.”
Work will now begin between South Tyneside Council and Gateshead Council to map every pound that is currently being spent across the two boroughs on youth offending and prevention.
It will also look at identifying duplication, gaps and opportunities on how budgets can be pooled.
Full delivery of the pilot is expected to begin in April 2027, with evaluation set to run until 2029.
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