A PLAN is being developed to help “unleash the creativity and talent of communities” in one of the country’s worst performing regions for numeracy skills, as part of the government’s Levelling Up agenda.

North Yorkshire County Council is collaborating with City of York Council in a major drive to increase adults’ functional numeracy, not just within their boundaries, but across the Yorkshire and the North-East, after being awarded £2.6m and £741,000 respectively from the government’s £2.6bn UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The funding will be used for a new adult numeracy programme, Multiply, providing free personal tutoring and digital training, which Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said would help spread opportunity to every part of the country.

He said the scheme would help to “unleash the creativity and talent of communities” that had been overlooked and undervalued.

A study by charity Pro Bono Economics last year found more than 60 per cent of working age adults in both Yorkshire and the North-East had low numeracy skills, making the areas among the worst performing three regions in the UK for numeracy skills.

It concluded low numeracy skills are associated with a £1,600 differential in wages within the region – the equivalent of 3.3 per cent of the average wage.

Last week, to mark National Numeracy Day, a North Yorkshire County Counil Adult Learning post on Facebook, stated: “Half the UK’s working age adults have low numeracy levels, which makes us more vulnerable to debt, unemployment, poor health and fraud – all exacerbated by the Covid-19 and cost-of-living crises.”

An officer’s report to a meeting of the council’s executive on Tuesday states the Department for Education would distribute the funds over three years after approving the council’s plans for spending it.

The report states: “We have had to demonstrate a way to spend this money most effectively for greatest benefit to the region, its economy and its residents and communities.”

The funds allocated to the region for Multiply have been based on the total number of individuals who are of working age compared to how many of those have an A-level or higher qualification.

Councillor Carl Les, the authority’s leader, said the council had a duty to prepare people for the world of work and described the proportion of adults with low numeracy skills in the region as a matter of some concern.

He said: “It is worrying that such a high proportion of the population have poor numeracy skills and also perhaps have poor literacy skills as well. It’s worrying that people are ill-prepared for the life skills that they need to get a better job or position or even to just have a better quality of entertainment.

“If those figures are correct, and I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the figures, clearly work needs to be done to identify where the problems are and where we, the educated people are failing the ccommunities that rely on us for education. We need to do better.”