The keys to Blackpool’s future
The biggest problem this government could fix for my constituents is housing.
The housing crisis contributes to a huge range of problems. Poverty, inequality, poor physical and mental health, educational attainment and social exclusion.
Everyone deserves a safe place to live but every day I hear from constituents about the terrible conditions they are living in. Young people who can’t keep up with rising rents. Mothers losing sleep over the impact of mould on their children’s health. Entire families trapped for weeks on end in single rooms serving as temporary accommodation.
The story of Barry Lanza recently was well publicised. My office was alerted to him becoming homeless after he was given just minutes to pack his bags and leave his flat after the demolition of the former Hartes department store next door caused it to be condemned.
Photo: National World
Aged 72, Barry has a brain tumour, prostate cancer and COPD and when I first spoke to him he and his two chihuahuas were staying in a Travelodge at this own expense. My office took this on as casework and with my intervention, working with Blackpool Coastal Housing, we were able to secure him a comfortable supported flat. But Barry is just one example, and we know his story because of the positive outcome.
Today 1.2 million people are on social housing waiting lists in England – 12,000 in Blackpool alone.
It’s been over 100 years since housing was acknowledged as a public health issue with the passing of the Housing and Town Planning Act. And nearly 80 years since a Labour government began the mass building of council housing for the working classes.
My grandparents were proud to receive the keys to their council house on Blackpool’s Grange Park. This was aspirational and good quality housing – but around 2.5 million of the country’s 5.5 million council homes have been lost since 1980, along with the safety, security and community they offered.
The post-war building of Grange Park - my grandparents received one of the first homes built
Blackpool Council has built around 700 new homes with affordable rent in the past decade. With My Blackpool Home it is challenging poor standards with a property portfolio of high-quality accommodation. Grange Park has been given a new lease of life with the construction of 131 new homes. But nearly 1,000 social homes have also been sold or demolished.
Over 20,000 households privately rent in Blackpool with three quarters of them relying on housing benefit to pay for them. One letting agent in my constituency told me that 30 applications for one property is normal. And yet more than half of privately rented properties in inner Blackpool fall well below standard.
Problems are particularly bad in my constituency due to the large number of former guesthouses that are now used as of Houses in Multiple Occupation. Three quarters of them are occupied by transient renters. Many landlords fail to maintain these properties – profiting from the exploitation of housing benefit claimants while leaving tenants to suffer in unacceptable conditions and exacerbating our town’s health and social inequalities.
I welcome the legislation being brought forward in the government’s Renters’ Rights Bill, which will introduce a Decent Homes Standard in the private rented sector. We need to make sure that councils have the resources they need to enforce those standards.
The Conservatives’ cost of living crisis, along with their delay in ending no-fault evictions, has pushed record numbers of people into homelessness. We need action to guarantee everyone access to safe and affordable housing, and to support people out of homelessness.
As a trustee for Communication Workers Union Humanitarian Aid, a charity supporting homeless children and families in Blackpool, I have seen first hand the difficulties facing the most vulnerable in our society.
The lack of a safe and secure home can seriously harm children’s development and significantly affect their futures. With so many children living without a quiet place to study, a comfortable place to sleep or a decent place to prepare food, it is unsurprising that poorer pupils in Blackpool are over two years behind their peers – the largest attainment gap in the country.
“While Blackpool Foodbank is a credit to our community, it is a damning charge against our society. ”
In some parts of my constituency, the number of children living in poverty far surpasses those who are not. Blackpool Food Bank does amazing work every week to support families across our town. The dedication of founder and chairman Neil Reid and his team means that 3,600 emergency food parcels were delivered across Blackpool last year. But while this service is a credit to our community, it is a damning charge against our society.
As a mental health advocate and the former chair of local charity Counselling in the Community, I have witnessed the harm poor housing can also have on mental health.
A fifth of adults in Blackpool are diagnosed with depression and 3,000 with a severe mental illness. Hospital admissions for children with mental health problems in my constituency are around 60% higher than the national average.
The previous government scrapped the ten-year Mental Health Plan and failed to recognise the importance of protecting the mental wellbeing of our communities. I am pleased that this government will prioritise mental health and take action to reduce waiting times, while focussing on prevention and improving provision.
I have urged the government to look at the model used by Blackpool’s Counselling in the Community. It uses the skills of trainee counsellors, giving them invaluable career experience while acting as a lifeline for its service users.
Empowering charities like this to expand their work, rather than relying on the private sector to plug the gap in the NHS, is a great model that will enable us to put money back into the community rather than into the pockets of private providers.
I am encouraged by the support shown for our town by this Labour government, who recognise that many of the challenges this country faces are distilled in Blackpool.
I am a firm believer that Blackpool has the solutions to its own problems. It has constructed the foundations but now needs this government to build it up and hand us the keys to unlocking our future.
