Coalfield Communities
Elaine Stewart Excerpts(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Elaine Stewart (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) on securing this most important debate. First, I need to declare my interests: I am a former communities manager at the Coalfields Regeneration Trust in Scotland, and I am the proud daughter of a miner and a canteen worker who worked in the pits from an early age, Ellen and John Orr.
I am delighted that support for coalfield communities is on the agenda again in this House. Those communities, once thriving hubs of industry, have faced decades of decline and hardship since the rapid closure of mines in the mid-80s. They are the communities that we live in and represent. Despite the resilience and determination of the people in these areas, the lack of meaningful action from previous Governments has left them struggling to rebuild and prosper. Throughout that time, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust has been a beacon of hope. Over the past 25 years, it has invested hundreds of millions of pounds in community projects. However, funding has significantly diminished in recent years in Scotland and across the country. Reviving our former coalfield sites means reinstating the support that the Conservatives took away, and increasing the support that the SNP is cutting yearly.
The Labour Government rightly highlight the importance of the growth agenda. That growth needs to be for everyone, everywhere. I urge the Government to look at the CRT’s investment plans. They are about investing to reverse the left-behind legacy in coalfield communities. One challenge is poor health. People living in coalfield communities still die one year earlier than the national average, and three years earlier than they would if they lived in south-east England. Economic inactivity is also an issue, with 600,000 people in the coalfield areas claiming disability living allowance or personal independence payment. Those figures are significantly higher than the national average. There is a brain drain from coalfield communities; many young people move away to study and never return.
The situation is particularly dire in areas of my constituency. The numbers sadly speak for themselves. In the coalfield communities of Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, there are only 41 jobs per 100 residents of working age, and one in four people claim out-of- work benefits. One in 13 claim the personal independence payment or disability living allowance, and one in three have no qualifications. One in 12 people are in bad or very bad health. However, every week, I see at first hand the positive impact that the Coalfields Regeneration Trust has in my community; for example, it is delivering and developing after-school and breakfast clubs in Drongan to address child poverty and support families. It is also looking to replicate that in a small coalfield village called Dalrymple.
Much more needs to be done, with the support of the UK Government. I will work with colleagues to make the case to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for increased funding for projects that focus on our community wealth-building model. Unlike previous Governments, we need to leave a lasting and positive legacy for our coalfield communities. We need to end the left-behind legacy once and for all.
Oral Answers to Questions
Elaine Stewart Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)
Elaine Stewart (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Alex Norris)
Local growth funding is crucial to our growth mission and to tackling regional inequalities. The Government will set out a refreshed approach to local growth funding at the multiyear spending review in the spring. That will end the beauty parades and short-term decision making and put local communities in charge of their own destiny, just as we committed to at the general election.
Alex Norris
As has been a theme of earlier questions, revitalising our high streets is a priority for this Government. We have announced a number of measures, including permanently lowering business rate multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure properties from 2026-27, introducing high street rental auctions and providing additional funding to tackle retail crime, all of which will support businesses and our high streets.
Elaine Stewart
The Ayrshire growth deal, worth over a quarter of a billion pounds, has the potential to stimulate growth and create jobs across the region, yet local delivery of the ambition is slow and stagnant. What message would the Minister send to spark action from the three Conservative-SNP run administrations in the region so that Ayrshire can realise its potential as a world-class business region?