Middlesbrough Council is hoping to secure a £5m grant which could mean more local jobs in the town.

Deputy mayor Mieka Smiles has authorised the director of public health, Mark Adams, to submit a bid to the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) to secure a Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC).

The aim of this will be to improve the ability of council staff to work with academics to consider how council decisions impact people's health.

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It is hoped that building these links will enable local authorities, with their expertise in their areas, to become more involved in shaping and driving forward certain areas of research to help them solve the problems they face.

The report states: "[A HDRC] has the potential to significantly raise the profile of Middlesbrough Council. We will be at the forefront in improving the use of evidence to inform our decision-making.

"Our Officers will collaborate more and secure research monies so that we know better what is working and what isn't working. We can use the HDRC to attract the best talent to the local authority, the university, and the wider system.

"The opportunities that the HDRC will bring will help us to develop and retain our staff. The extra monies that we will secure will create more local jobs."

Cllr Smiles said that it would allow the council to have a more 'research mindset'.

The application will be submitted with Teesside University and, if successful, the council hopes to expand research into children's services, regeneration (which will include planning), and adult services.

However, the HDRC won't carry out the research itself but will support council officers to access other external funding so it can be conducted.

The NIHR is planning to fund five HDRCs initially and the council must submit an expression of interest by November 23, with the second stage of the application in early 2022.

Contracts will be awarded to successful applicants in June/July 2022.

The grant is worth £1m per year for the next five years and there is also the possibility that this project will be funded for longer than that.

If the bid is successful, a Director of Research and Development must be appointed.

There are ongoing discussions with Redcar & Cleveland Council to decide whether the application should be submitted jointly or just by Middlesbrough Council.

The council's Health Scrutiny Panel is currently looking into health inequalities in the town.

Life expectancy at birth in 2018 to 2020 in Middlesbrough is lower than the national average.

For men, it was 75.4 years whereas for women it was 79.8 years, while, on average in the UK, it was 79 years for men and 82.9 years for women.

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