New Towns

Debate between Chris Vince and Richard Baker

Thursday 15th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Richard Baker (Glenrothes and Mid Fife) (Lab)]

The brilliant, transformative Labour Government of 1945 accepted and endorsed the idea of investing in the construction of new towns as a way of providing much improved living conditions for people throughout our nation. I am delighted that this Labour Government are doing that again today, and I am proud to be the MP for Glenrothes, which was the second post-war new town in Scotland following East Kilbride and was born on 13 June 1948, when the development corporation was set up under the New Towns Act 1946. We are proud to be the place where my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) grew up, and I congratulate her on securing this debate, which has been a really good discussion about the past of new towns and their future.

The purpose of the establishment of Glenrothes was to generate economic growth and renewal in central Fife, and the town has achieved that despite great setbacks, even at its foundation. The story of Glenrothes can inspire us to tackle the challenges that new towns face today. The reason Glenrothes was founded was to support the development of a newly established National Coal Board super-pit, the Rothes colliery, in 1958, which hardly ever worked at all because it had a plethora of problems—much like the Conservative party—such as flooding and geological faults. When the pit closed, further development of Glenrothes almost came to a halt, but the people of Glenrothes did not give up, and neither did Fife council. The development corporation targeted the growing electronics industry to attract it to the town, and Glenrothes became an important centre for light industry. The town played a significant role in establishing Scotland’s silicon glen, with many high-tech companies investing in the area.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch said, this shows how new towns have to reinvent themselves, because they are soon not new and have to look towards the future. That is what we are doing today in Glenrothes, where we are already the administrative centre of Fife, and we maintain a strong presence in the technology and manufacturing sectors. With a population of just under 40,000, Glenrothes is the third largest settlement in Fife after Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy. There will be investment in Methil and Buckhaven near Glenrothes in my constituency through the Pride in Place programme and in our regional growth zone, new funding for which was announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland last week.

While we cannot boast either concrete polar bears or concrete donkeys, we do have concrete hippos, which are greatly valued in the town and for which we are renowned. In terms of business, the reason that many companies continue to make Glenrothes their base is that the town has a great location in the centre of Scotland. We have much to be thankful for in terms of investment in our infrastructure. It is an attractive destination to invest, but the town does face significant challenges.

We have heard today about the challenges faced by many new towns. The Communities and Local Government Committee report of 2008 identified three particular infrastructure problems facing new towns throughout the UK: transport, town centre investment, and housing design and public space. We have heard throughout the debate that those issues still affect our new towns. Certainly in Glenrothes, the idea of a 20-minute neighbourhood is a distant prospect, and rail connectivity in particular is poor.

[Chris Vince]

I thank my hon. Friend for taking an intervention, particularly as I have already spoken. One of the issues in Harlow is that the M11 was built on the wrong side, so we have big lorries going all the way through Harlow to get to the industrial sites on the other side of the town. Does he agree that it is really important that we make sure we get transport infrastructure right when designing new towns?