The North East covers approximately 8,573km and has a population of approximately 2.5 million.

It is a region rich with history and cultural variety. Geographically it is a region of great contrasts. The rugged hills, moor lands and forests stretching from North Yorkshire in the south to the Pennines and Cumbria in the west to 186 kilometre North Sea coastline in the east. The beautiful beaches of Northumberland continue in to Scotland with the landscape marked by the rise - and subsequent fall – in the coalmining and ship building industry.

The region has seen substantial social and economic change over the last 30 years and during that time the North East lost over 110,000 jobs in primary and manufacturing industries. However, manufacturing remains an important element in the economy, the regional economic base has diversified into new areas such as microelectronics, the offshore industry, biotechnology and automotives. There has also been a significant growth in the service sectors, public administration, education and health. Tourism also accounts for approximately 10 per cent of all jobs and has nationally established ‘Passionate People Passionate Places’ to conceptualise the North East people and the region.

Despite these developments, the region is still dealing with the economic, social and structural consequences of its past dependence on industries, which is reflected in its poor performance across a range of health and socio-economic indicators; employment rates, educational achievement and life expectancy are all lower in the North East than the national average.

In the North East the NTA Regional Team support 12 local Partnerships namely; Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle; Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland; Durham and Darlington; Stockton; Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Redcar & Cleveland who through an outcome based jointly commissioned process champion the Drug and Alcohol agenda and provide a range of services based on the needs of the localities population.

More on drug treatment 2009-10 in the North East