NEW data has revealed the life expectancy of the most deprived people in Tendring has fallen behind the least deprived.

A new analysis by academics from the Institute of Health Equity at University College London shows the difference in life expectancy between the least and most deprived residents.

The difference between male residents in Tendring has grown by 2.1 years, going up from eight in 2010-12 to 10.1 in 2017-19.

This period was used because it was before the coronavirus pandemic, which substantially altered life expectancy figures.

Meanwhile, the gap between the richest and poorest female residents has grown by 1.7 years.

The analysis also shows Tendring Council's spending power declined by 45 per cent in real terms from 2010-11 and 2020-21, when factoring in council tax rises and central government funding.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot has told dozens of MPs that their constituents are "suffering avoidable ill-health and living shorter lives than they should".

Sir Michael has written letters to the 58 MPs whose constituencies lie wholly or partially in the worst-affected local areas.

"We need you to fight for all your constituents’ health. They are suffering avoidable ill-health and living shorter lives than they should due to poor policies and cuts to essential services," he wrote.

Councillor Mark Stephenson, Leader of Tendring District Council (TDC), said the most recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) Health Index figures show an improvement in residents’ health and quality of life in Tendring.

“The figures that were analysed by Institute of Health Equity at University College London relate to the pre-Covid period up to 2019 – some five years ago,” he said.

“We do recognise that Tendring has some very difficult health challenges, but we are working hard with our health partners to address the issues faced by our communities.

“Raising quality of life is something which runs through everything we do.

“We have already seen good progress with improved ONS Health Index figures for Tendring, which increased 4.7 per cent in the most recent study – bucking the national trend.

“Thanks to a series of projects, we have seen areas of improvement in early years development and smoking prevention, along with an increase in physical activity, child vaccination coverage, personal wellbeing and life satisfaction.

“This has included working with the Jaywick Sands community on establishing the Dig 4 Jaywick community garden to help people keep active and eat more healthily, as well as working with Active Essex on the Essex Pedal Power project to hand out more than 1,000 bikes free of charge.

“We also supported the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s plans to develop its new Clacton Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) at Clacton Hospital, ensuring patients can access a full range of health tests closer to home.

“It is clear that the projects and initiatives that TDC are involved with are making a real difference to residents’ health and wellbeing.”