Middlesbrough: the worst place to live in the UK

In a recent popular UK television property programme (Location, Location, Location) focusing on the best and worst places to live in the UK, it was announced that Middlesbrough is the worst to live in 2007. The programme-makers compiled and analysed what they implied were vast quantities of statistical data about the areas defined by each local government authority in the UK. The data for Middlesbrough are depressingly clear: poor diet leading to high levels of obesity; heavy use of tobacco leading to poor health; high levels of crime, especially violent crime; high levels of prostitution and illicit drug use; poor quality housing; and poor educational achievement. According to the Office for National Statistics, the population around the docks have the poorest life-expectancy in the UK. Hartlepool, Hull and Grimsby also fared badly for similar reasons. All four are North Sea coast industrial towns that thrived during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but are now stuggling to find new twenty-first century roles, and some kind of post-industrial purpose in life.

When interviewed, people in Middlesbrough expressed unhappiness about the designation. It is not that they expressed any (misplaced, perhaps) sense of responsibility. Some of these people identify with the town, and in a love-me-love-my-dog kind of a way, take the label as a personal criticism: criticise my town and you criticise me. Some denied the designation, claiming that the programme researchers were in error. Although approximations and judgments will have been made, and mistakes are possible, it seems unlikely that the four North Sea coast industrial towns should in truth be designated as deeply desirable places in which to live. The long-held British penchant for empiricism over abstract theory is not lightly to be dumped by denying the data. Some people denied the designation, claiming a southern conspiracy. However, the purpose and motivation for such a conspiracy are unclear.

It would be easy to understand were the people of Middlesbrough to express anger that they are ill-served by the statutory services of local government, the police and the National Health Service, for it is the authorities and the statutory services that are failing the people. However, Ray Mallon, the mayor of Middlesbrough, and its former police chief, rather than committing himself and his office to social improvement, chose to express dissatisfaction with the designation. It is not my intention to criticise the work of any individual, as I am certain that there are many people working in the statutory or voluntary sectors who are performing sterling work under difficult circumstances. However, there is a responsibility for the people who lead and manage these services to be in possession of an analysis and a vision that can lead Middlesbrough, and its people, away from its current status.

Another comment I have heard in this context is that it is unhelpful to kick a dog when it is down. However, Middlesbrough is not a dog, it is a town on some 142,691 people who deserve better services than they are receiving from the organisations with responsibility to serve them. Better a bleak, stark picture that tells the truth, even if it is only a snapshot, than a comforting chocolate box image that glosses over what should be unacceptable.