Hornsea: Coastal inequalities 'force young people to leave'

The report cited particular concerns with lower GCSE results in English and maths for children in coastal communities

More needs to be done to ensure young people want to stay in coastal communities such as Hornsea in East Yorkshire, local residents have said.

Levelling-up policies are at risk of failing to turn around decades of inequality, a new report warns.

The report highlights poorer health, education, transport and broadband links in seaside towns and villages.

Seventeen-year-old Freya Tudor said: "If you want the bigger jobs you've got to go elsewhere."

Freya Tudor, 17, said she felt many young people had no choice other than to leave small coastal communities if they wanted to land a top job

Ms Tudor, a sixth-form student with a Saturday job, said she felt leaving her home town was inevitable.

"I want to go on to university and whether I come back, I'm not sure," she said.

"The issue is we've got lots of small businesses and if you want the bigger jobs you've got to go elsewhere."

The report due to be published on Wednesday was commissioned by the Coastal Communities Alliance, the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group and the Coastal Partnerships Network.

It found nearly one in five coastal jobs paid below the living wage, with household income almost £3,000 lower than in non-coastal areas.

Lis Watson, from the Hornsea and District Indoor Bowls Club, said maintaining a sense of community was made more difficult due to a waning number of facilities.

"It's a real shame because sport and more opportunities is what attracts people into an area - particularly our younger people, they want to have choice."

Resident Lis Watson said young people leaving the town made maintaining a sense of community more difficult

Kate Liddle-Howden, who also uses the bowls centre, agreed young people had few incentives to keep them in the town.

"To enable Hornsea to continue as it is we need to find something as a community that does keep all ages here rather than getting to work age and leaving," she said.

Meanwhile, Dr Simon Lee, political economist at the University of Hull, said he believed it was important to target support more carefully.

"What this report is arguing for first of all is devolution of power to local authorities so that they can actually plan and spend money and invest," he said.

"But also what it's really saying is what we need is not just a strategy for coastal communities, we need a strategy for England, because there isn't one at the moment."

Dr Simon Lee, political economist at the University of Hull, said giving money to coastal communities was not the only answer

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said coastal communities "play a key role in levelling up and we continue to support them to improve their economies".

"Since 2012 we have invested over £229m through the Coastal Communities Fund to run 359 projects throughout the UK's rural and coastal communities helping to create jobs and boost businesses."