Town Deal Funding: Owens in Hastings

Jim McMahon Excerpts

Monday 10th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Local Government and English Devolution (Jim McMahon)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) on securing this evening’s important debate, and I thank her for speaking so powerfully on behalf of her constituents. She is a passionate champion for Hastings, and is leading the charge to ensure that not a single penny of Government investment in that town is wasted. We have a number of things in common; we are both Labour and Co-operative Members of this House, but we were also both in Hastings and Rye on 8 September 2022 when the late Queen passed away. Apart from the profound sense of how important and significant that day was, what was very clear from speaking to those who are now my hon. Friend’s constituents was the high regard she was held in. I am glad that that was reflected in the result of the election.

Before I turn to the main subject of the debate, I will speak about the funding that the Government are putting into my hon. Friend’s constituency. Last week, my Department announced up to £20 million of funding and support for Hastings through our new plan for neighbourhoods. It will help build a thriving Hastings, strengthen the local community and allow residents to take their own decisions on things that affect them. We are also giving Hastings £15 million for our community regeneration partnerships, which will help provide more affordable housing in the town and fund improvements at the Hollington youth hub. Those investments come on top of the £24.3 million town deal for Hastings.

Our town deals are based on local partnerships and local decision making, and they are led by local town boards. I know my hon. Friend is a member of hers, and I know that she champions her area extremely well. I am pleased to see that the town deal in Hastings is well into delivery and is beginning to deliver results on the ground, although I hear her concerns about Owens entertainment centre, which I will turn to in more detail.

When my hon. Friend raised this issue in the House last year, I was disappointed to learn about the closure of Owens and any money wasted under the previous Government. Although the decision to invest in the project was taken by Hastings borough council and the town board, it goes without saying that it is deeply disappointing when projects fall through. I understand that the project at the former Debenhams site was due to bring the building back into use and create more leisure facilities and, importantly, local jobs. Following the closure and the company responsible going into administration in October 2024, the owner has retaken possession of the building and the space has been re-advertised for lease.

I hear the concerns of my hon. Friend and her constituents loud and clear regarding her constituents rightfully getting their money back. Although the funding comes from the UK Government, the responsibility for local town board management sits with the town board and formally with Hastings borough council as the accountable body for the town deal. I understand that Hastings borough council issued legal letters last year regarding potential action to recover the £150,000 from the towns fund that was allocated to CFEC Ltd, which ran Owens entertainment centre during this time.

I will be direct, as my hon. Friend was direct, and say that there are plenty of unanswered questions. What we do know is that the Conservatives, when they were in government, received £2 million in donations from its owner. We also know that under their watch, this now-closed amusement centre received more than £150,000 of taxpayers’ money. The simple question we do not yet know the answer to is: why? Why might this millionaire Tory donor have needed a top-up from the taxpayer to open a bowling alley? There are concession owners in the dark, ticket holders confused and, importantly, 31 staff members without a job. I am sure they would like to know the answer to that question, too. I am also sure they would like to know whether the Conservatives, given what has now come to light, have any intentions, for the benefit of the local community, of returning all or part of the donations that they received?

Following the news that CFEC Ltd had gone into administration in October ‘24, a claim was lodged with the administrators to recover the £150,000. My officials will continue to stay up to date on the situation through our town deal monitoring and regular conversations with the council.

On town deals more widely, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North and Kimberley (Alex Norris) was pleased to offer an extra year for delivery recently, taking the end of the fund to March 2027. We all want to see quick results, but colleagues in this House and in councils have reiterated how challenging it has been for projects, especially with cost inflation. This Government have listened, which is why there is now an extra year of funding to get those projects over the line. My officials are working with areas where the extra year is taken up to ensure that delivery stays on track.

Let us now look at the broader picture. The last Government tied places up in knots with their short-term initiatives and funding pots, all with very different rules and timetables. Far from driving growth, that bogs places down in bureaucracy, complexity and uncertainty. Moving ahead, we will set out a refreshed approach to local growth funding in the multi-year spending review in the spring—an approach that simplifies funding, with less red tape and more local choice. This Government’s defining mission is growth, and we are determined that nowhere will be left behind. Together, we will work in partnership with people on the ground and with local authorities in Hastings and in every corner of the country.

Question put and agreed to.