Coalfield Communities

Jo Platt Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jo Platt (Leigh and Atherton) (Lab/Co-op)]

First, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) on securing the debate. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) for all the hard work he does for our coalfield communities.

My now older children groan whenever I mention the industrial revolution. They grew up hearing about it, because I always thought it was very important for them to understand their place. I could not think of a better place to raise them than the constituency of Leigh and Atherton. Its rich history is rooted in coalmining and textile manufacturing. That is probably one of the reasons why, between the times when I have been elected, I stayed in Leigh and regenerated one of our redbrick giants, Leigh Spinners Mill, to create a space for businesses and enterprises to thrive. If we are talking about regeneration, preserving historical structures is vital. They form part of our identify and help us to maintain a connection with the past.

However, there is no denying the impact of decline and the loss of industry on our towns. Industries have not been replaced, and communities are still grappling with the consequences. Our high streets, once bustling, are now burdened with vacant, decaying buildings with absentee landlords. Our road networks, originally designed around our factories and mills, struggle under the weight of increasing traffic and congestion.

As the chair of the Labour MPs group on local growth funding, I work alongside colleagues from across England, Scotland and Wales, many of whom represent some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country. We are firmly committed to supporting the Government’s plans to reform local growth funding, especially after the failure of the previous Government’s policy. The Labour MPs group, in collaboration with the Industrial Communities Alliance, presented an ambition statement, which outlined key proposals for the upcoming spending review. Among the proposals is a call for funding allocation formulas that more accurately reflect the true needs of our communities, and a call for greater devolution of power to local leaders. After all, we have already made significant strides with our Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, and the long-awaited bus reforms.

The proposals are relevant not just to former coalfield areas like mine; they speak to all disadvantaged parts of our nation. Funding must be allocated fairly and based on need, not through a competitive bidding process that disproportionately benefits already affluent areas. Local growth funding must have one clear and overarching focus: economic development, regeneration and connectivity. I am under no illusion that a large financial institution will rock up to Leigh and create thousands of jobs—that is not going to happen—so how do we focus on connecting to areas where growth is happening, and how can we better support the businesses that we already have in our towns?

I am fully committed to the Government’s growth strategy, and am grateful that we now have a Government who are bold in their ambition to get this country working again. The Government have a unique opportunity to correct past injustices, invest in our future and build prosperous new industrial areas.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Jo Platt Excerpts

Thursday 23rd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jo Platt (Leigh and Atherton) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is an immense privilege to speak in this debate and express my heartfelt support for Holocaust Memorial Day. This day is not merely a reflection on a single tragedy in human history; it is a time to remember the 6 million Jewish men, women and children murdered during the Holocaust and to honour those who survived. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (David Pinto-Duschinsky) for such a moving, personal speech on the importance of honouring those who survived. The theme for this year, “For a better future”, resonates deeply; it calls on each of us to reflect on our role in building a more peaceful society. It reminds us that we all share a collective responsibility to ensure that no one suffers prejudice, discrimination or violence because of their faith, ethnicity or any other characteristic.

Five weeks before the horrific massacre committed by Hamas in 2023, I had the opportunity to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories as part of a delegation. During that visit, I met leaders from both sides of a long-standing conflict. I also witnessed something that left a lasting impression on me: young people, both Jewish Israelis and Muslim Palestinians, who were critical of their leaders but united in their shared desire for peace. They, like us, want an end to the cycle of violence; and they want leadership that will guide them towards a better future. That is a message that I will hold on to.

During my visit, I had the profound honour of experiencing Yad Vashem. The exhibits, documents, testimonies and historical artefacts told a story that was truly harrowing. What struck me most was the reminder that the Holocaust did not occur in isolation or overnight, but was the culmination of years of cultivated hatred, prejudice and dehumanisation. The horror of the Holocaust was not just the atrocity itself; it was the slow erosion of civility and the gradual unravelling of humanity. That is why we must continue to resist antisemitism, Islamophobia and all discrimination and persecution in every form. Holocaust Memorial Day is about understanding how hatred creeps into society, and how we as individuals and communities must prevent them from taking root again.

Education plays a vital role in that process, and I welcome this Government’s announcement, and the focus on teaching the Holocaust, so that we ensure that pupils understand why and how it happened. More locally, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Joan Livesey for her dedication in organising Holocaust memorial events in my constituency and beyond. Her work with schools to engage young people in learning about the Holocaust is essential in ensuring that that history is never forgotten. One such event will be held at Leigh Film Factory: a poignant screening of “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days”. Those efforts are crucial. They create spaces for communities to come together to reflect on such horrific events. They also remind us of the values we must all work towards in this House: tolerance, acceptance and mutual respect for all people, regardless of their background. Wherever hatred exists, whether it is in the UK or elsewhere, we must challenge it. We must confront the language of hate and bigotry wherever it is found, and ensure that we never allow those forces to gain a foothold again.

Town Centres

Jo Platt Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Luke Murphy]

I fully agree, but I will leave it there—for the sake of time, I will be short in agreeing with interventions.

None the less, like many towns and villages across the country, Basingstoke’s town centre is a hub of remarkable independent businesses that continue to thrive, despite years of neglect, from the unique offerings of Afrizi and the cherished Willows to the flavours of the Chennai Express and the ever-popular Festival Street Kitchen. These diverse ventures highlight the incredible entrepreneurial spirit in our town. The wealth of talent and creativity showcases the untapped potential of small business owners in our town, who deserve greater support and investment.

[Jo Platt (Leigh and Atherton) (Lab/Co-op)]

My hon. Friend is making some excellent points about our high streets. The Government’s recent move to introduce high street rental auctions is a game changer for places such as Leigh and Atherton. Local businesses such as local construction firm WJ Structures are eager to regenerate, but are often held back by obstructive landlords. Does my hon. Friend agree that empowering businesses with a genuine stake in the area will only boost the local economy? It will create jobs and foster skills and training for industry in communities such as mine.

[Luke Murphy]

I fully agree with my hon. Friend and look forward to seeing auctions playing a role in rejuvenating high streets such as those in Basingstoke and in her constituency. I also welcome the Government’s action on small business access loans in the Budget, with £250 million for the British Business Bank’s small business loan programmes.

We know that the high streets of tomorrow will not look like those of the past. The modern consumer is looking for more than a place to shop. They are looking for an experience, and a reason to visit that goes beyond everyday retail. Independent, forward-facing business owners such as those running the Dice Tower and the Post Box in Basingstoke, which provide engaging experiences alongside the food and drink offerings, show that they already understand the habits of their customers. Events and experiences are clearly the future of the high street.

Innovation is the way forward for our town centres. A shift towards more diverse, mixed-use developments, integrating housing, leisure, culture, banking hubs, centres of education and public services, will help to create more vibrant high streets where people want to spend time and money. Alongside innovation, we must also address the factors that deter footfall.

City and Town Centres: Regeneration

Jo Platt Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Catherine Atkinson]

The bids we have seen in Derby have been really useful. Partnerships for Better Business, which supports business improvement districts, has made suggestions on empty shops, which I want to come on to.

The whole-Government approach should first include tackling crime and antisocial behaviour to take back our streets, as the Home Secretary says, and take back our town and city centres. When high streets feel unsafe, consumers choose other shopping options—that is how the Association of Convenience Stores puts it. So we need the patrols, the neighbourhood policing and the respect orders to ban persistent offenders from town centres, the removal of the previous Government’s £200 prosecution threshold, and a new, specific offence for assaults on shop workers. I pay tribute to the work of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers and Co-op for their campaigns on that. There is also hope from technology: companies such as Derby’s Barron McCann are using artificial intelligence and biometrics analysis to support retailers to detect and prevent theft.

Secondly, we need support for businesses. That includes reforming business rates to level the playing field between the high street and online giants, tackling late payments, better incentivising investment and supporting entrepreneurship. We have amazing businesses, such as Mr Shaw’s House on Sadler Gate in the cathedral quarter, and we want to see them thrive.

Thirdly, we need support for arts and culture. While Derby’s redevelopment plans are in motion, we need to sustain the amazing offer we already have, such as our museums, including the Museum of Making housed in the UNESCO-inscribed Derby silk mill, the cultural hub of the Quad, Artcore and many others. The work they do is so important for our city, but they need support so that they are ready to take full advantage of the increased footfall that we will see.

Fourthly, we need better public transport links, particularly from new housing developments to our centres. Cycling UK have great examples of where cycling lanes and pedestrian-friendly streets have revitalised parts of city centres. Finally, we need an agile approach to the city centre space to support a mix of retail, public services, independent small businesses, entertainment, housing and more green and family-friendly spaces. I hope hon. Members will provide many other examples of the policies that are mission-critical to local city and town centres.

[Jo Platt (Leigh and Atherton) (Lab/Co-op)]

My hon. Friend is making some excellent points on regeneration for towns and cities. The high streets of Leigh, Atherton, Golborne and Tyldesley in my constituency are huge assets to our local communities. However, as my hon. Friend has explained, we have all witnessed the decline over the last few years. Does she agree with giving local authorities powers to better hold absent property owners to account, to bring decaying properties back into use? Does she also agree that co-operative models, such as local ownership, are another solution that will significantly benefit our economy?

[Catherine Atkinson]

My hon. Friend is a great friend to her local high street businesses. The Government have made a commitment on the community right to buy, and the Co-op party makes a strong case for devolved community ownership funds. I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention.

I turn to the scourge of vacant properties, which we need a particular focus on. Derbyshire Live estimated in May that more than 80 shops in Derby city centre were currently up for sale or to let—an increase of about 60% on two years previously, when it carried out the same survey of the major shopping streets. In the last few months, we have seen green shoots, with about 30 new businesses opening in Derby city centre and I have high hopes for the effect of the regeneration we have planned. We have some stunning architecture, but unused buildings fall into rack and ruin. Empty units are such a blight on town and city centres that I want to call today for a specific Government strategy on vacant shops.

Leasehold Reform

Jo Platt Excerpts

Thursday 11th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Jo Platt (Leigh) (Lab/Co-op)]

First, I should declare an interest as I, too, am currently the owner of a leasehold property. As 66% of property transactions in Leigh now come with a leasehold, anyone would be hard-pushed to find someone in Leigh who is not affected.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) for securing this important debate. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra) for her work on this issue. I know that she has constituents here in the Public Gallery. I thank the all-party group on leasehold and commonhold reform and the campaigners of the National Leasehold Campaign, in particular Katie Kendrick, for their work in highlighting the scandal and for providing support to constituents all over the country. Their work has brought together the real injustices facing people who own their own home.

I represent a constituency in the north-west and the leasehold scandal is hitting our residents in particular. In 2017, 31% of house transactions in the north-west were leasehold properties, compared with a national average of 3%. In Leigh alone, more than half of all property transactions came with a leasehold. To understand the anger and sense of injustice that the residents of our towns feel, we must look at the history of how we have got to this situation today.

In our proud post-industrial towns, such as the ones that I represent, properties were often utilised by the once-dominant landowners and manufacturing industries as accommodation for workers with peppercorn rents. As our industries declined and our factories closed, those leaseholds were bought up by companies that now dominate the local property market—a feudal system of old transferred into a feudal system of the modern age. As we have heard, those freeholders set into contracts new clauses that double ground rents every few years. A peppercorn payment has turned into a sizeable rent that is hitting families across our constituencies.

This real and growing crisis has led to desperate families getting in touch with me to say that they are struggling to afford those payments, on top of their mortgage and bills. This is the important aspect of this situation: there is a real human cost. A recent survey carried out by the NLC and SOS Silence of Suicide found that spiralling bills and charges are taking their toll on people’s health and wellbeing. And why? It is all down to the fact that a loophole has been exploited and innocent families have been caught up in it based purely on where they have been brought up or where they choose to live. The scandal is also having an understandable impact on our property prices and restricting the prosperity of our towns.

Earlier this week, the shadow Housing Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon Central (Sarah Jones), pointed out that the Government have made 60 leasehold announcements since they came to power nine years ago, but have taken no action to clamp down on this injustice. I am glad that the Government recognise the crisis we in the north-west in particular are facing, but their proposals simply do not go far enough. Their proposals offer nothing to help the hundreds of families in Leigh who are already stuck in these contracts, they do nothing to help with their spiralling ground rents and they do nothing to enable homeowners to escape their leasehold trap.

That is why I fully welcome and support Labour’s announcement this week that we will not only ban new leaseholds, but cap existing ground rents at £140 per year in Leigh and enable homeowners to buy their freehold at no more than 1% of their house cost. Those are the type of bold interventions that we need if we are ever going to be serious about fixing our broken housing market. From my weekly surgeries, I know how urgently we need leasehold reform. We need a radical shake-up to get our housing market working again.

Shared Prosperity Fund

Jo Platt Excerpts

Tuesday 14th May 2019 Westminster Hall

[Jo Platt (Leigh) (Lab/Co-op)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) on securing this important debate. It comes at a crucial time, as we leave the European Union, but we must realise that the existing fundamental imbalance of investment, decision making and power across the country is a major reason that we saw the Brexit vote. For too long, Westminster has held the purse strings, made the decisions and held power over our communities. Is it any wonder that northern towns such as the one I represent feel isolated from the economic progress of our cities and isolated from the decisions that impact their daily lives?

For the constituents of Leigh, such isolation is not only metaphorical, but literal. My town has no rail connectivity. Decisions made in this place mean that my constituents struggle to access the employment, educational and social opportunities of our nearby cities, while outside investment is effectively blocked from flowing into our towns. My constituents in Leigh are left believing that, after nine years of Tory austerity, the country does not work for them. That is why it is important that the shared prosperity fund not only replaces vital EU funding, but restores their faith in our communities, gives them a voice, a stake in society and empowers them to transform local economies for the 21st-century economy.

At the heart of the debate is not just a matter of replacing funding, but instilling a sense of agency in our communities. We must therefore adopt a place-based approach, putting our constituents at the heart of transforming their areas and not leaving them to feel that they are receiving a pity handout. Gone should be the days when a selected elite decide what is best for our local area. We must instead empower and entrust those whom the decisions impact the most.

One great example of how the current system is failing can be seen in the digital and cyber worlds. The Centre for Towns has found that 55% of digital jobs are in the south-east of England, with just 12% in the north. It is a tragedy. The only way we will reunite our country after years of austerity and Brexit-induced division is by empowering, entrusting and investing in our communities. We in this place must let local areas take back control to make the decisions that transform their towns while restoring their damaged trust and confidence in a society that should work for them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jo Platt Excerpts

Monday 8th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Wheeler]

My hon. Friend is a true champion for her area. The statistics in Cornwall show how this matter can be dealt with successfully when partners come together—a reduction of 40% in rough sleeping in one year alone is a true testament to the reason why we need to tackle this. We will not let it rest.

[Jo Platt (Leigh) (Lab/Co-op)]

10. What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of local authority funding in Leigh constituency.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Rishi Sunak)]

The local government finance settlement for 2019-20 confirmed a real-terms increase in resources available to local authorities. I am pleased to say that the hon. Lady’s own local council, Wigan, will see its core spending power increase by £4.6 million in this financial year.

[Jo Platt]

Under this Government, Wigan Council has seen £160 million taken from its budget—that is £160 million less to spend every single year. With children’s services as a top immediate pressure, how do the Government intend to respond to my local authority when it has to deliver services to some of our most vulnerable children without the funding that is so desperately needed?

[Rishi Sunak]

The recent Budget provided more than £400 million for children’s services but, beyond money, it is important to note that it is quality of leadership that makes the difference in providing for vulnerable children. The hon. Lady’s own council recently won a prestigious award for being the best council in the country, and its leader remarked that

“we are still able to give residents first class care”.

Local Government Funding

Jo Platt Excerpts

Tuesday 15th January 2019 Westminster Hall

[Jo Platt (Leigh) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I declare an interest as I am a vice-president of the Local Government Association. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill) on securing the debate. I have the enormous pleasure of co-chairing Labour Friends of Local Government with my hon. Friend. I hope that the group will use opportunities such as this debate to shed light on the funding realities that councils face.

As a former councillor, I know at first hand the enormous pressures that councils face. I became a councillor in 2012, just as the austerity measures were about to be implemented. In 2014, I was appointed to the cabinet with the children and young people portfolio. It was not an easy time. Owing to the cuts, some difficult decisions had to be made. One included Sure Start. I was adamant that we were not going to lose our much-valued Labour policy, but I knew that changes were needed to ensure its survival. Those difficult decisions are made every day by councils, but they do not often receive the same publicity and attention as the decisions we make here, despite the enormous consequences for our constituents’ lives.

The coalition Government of 2010 knew that. They knew that if they heaped responsibility on to local authorities without the funding to deliver, councils would take the blame for cuts. There have been budget cuts of £160 million to the budget of our local council alone. That means that every year, £160 million has been taken. It would have provided services that we rely on. The £160 million has been found from libraries, roads, bin collections, social care and children’s services. Those are the stark decisions that councils are forced to make, and they all have far-reaching consequences. To put the challenge into perspective, by the end of the year, local authorities will have lost 60p in every pound from the funding that Government used to provide.

There is no light at the end of the tunnel. The Government want councils to be more and more self-sufficient, which means there will be less in grants from Government. Under the Tory proposals, areas less able to raise council revenue will have less to spend. Areas with the highest demands and council pressures will not have the budgets to cope. It is likely that in areas with the least pressures there will be council tax reductions. The Government tell us to trust them on the funding formula that we have yet to see, but with their record how can we possibly trust them?

Such pressing challenges are the reason why my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston and I established the Labour friends of local government group last year. It brings together councillors, MPs and stakeholders to call out the Government for their recklessness, and so that we can support one another and share ideas on how hard-working Labour councils can continue to deliver quality services despite Tory austerity. Most of all, we came together with one united message: hard-working Labour councils are not to blame for austerity and we have a duty as Labour MPs to make that crystal clear.

Councils are critical to our constituents’ social mobility, and to boosting young people’s life chances, but the Government’s contempt for local government, which is shown in their underfunding and under-resourcing, is restricting the economic and social transformation that town economies such as Leigh desperately need. I welcome the debate as an opportunity to highlight the damage caused from Westminster by Tory handling of local government, and the enormous challenges that the next few years will present to councils. We desperately need a fair funding settlement for councils that will not just give them the bare essentials to cope, but will utilise our incredible councils to get the best out of their areas.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Shale Gas Development

Jo Platt Excerpts

Wednesday 31st October 2018 Westminster Hall

[Jo Platt (Leigh) (Lab/Co-op)]

I represent a coalfield constituency in Lancashire, and fracking is unfortunately a particular and common concern for residents. Six licences have been imposed on the people of Leigh, who have serious and legitimate concerns about the impact on their environment. Despite the sentiments we often hear from the Government, we have reason to be concerned. Earlier this year, we heard from Peter Styles, a former Government adviser, who found that fracking in former coalmining areas increases the probability of earthquakes on faults that have already been subject to movement through mining.

Given that vulnerability, I hope that the Minister will be able in his reply to detail the steps he is taking to protect our community and that he will accept the real anxiety that fracking has caused in our region, which has been left feeling singled out by the Government’s fracking regime. Ultimately, it is totally unacceptable to impose such a chaotic process on communities without giving them a say.

Local Authority Financial Sustainability: NAO Report

Jo Platt Excerpts

Tuesday 20th March 2018 Westminster Hall

[Jo Platt (Leigh) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale (Mike Amesbury) for securing this vital debate. Local authorities across the country are at a tipping point. Eight years of Tory austerity have decimated our local councils, with my local authority of Wigan facing an additional 30% cut to its budget, which will mean £160 million taken out of its budget by 2020.

Prior to coming to the House, I was a local councillor. I saw at first hand the impact of the cuts inflicted to services, particularly on the most vulnerable. It is really important to note that cuts to local authorities are not just cuts to their services—the cuts to support services are just as barbaric. For example, in my area there has been a 20% rise in domestic violence, which is little wonder when local registered charities also lose their funding due to the financial pressures on local authorities via commissioning streams. The same can be said for homelessness, in which we have seen a huge surge nationally. Local cuts to early intervention and prevention grants have only exacerbated the problem. I urge the Minister to take that into consideration when she next thinks about the causes of homelessness.

Councils should have the resources to provide emergency accommodation and council housing to those most in need and to offer the support to transform people’s lives. However, the Government have time and again shifted the responsibility on to local authorities while dramatically cutting their budgets. Quite simply, our local councils are unable to cope any further with the increased responsibility placed on them by central Government without the means to deliver.

Without the resources to deliver, where do councils turn? As my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle (Emma Hardy) mentioned, they turn to their reserves. However, reserves are not pots of money that councils sit on for fun, as they are often characterised by the Government. Local authorities rely on these reserves to transform their services, as has been the case in my local authority. They are also called on in emergencies to ensure that councils remain operational.

[Emma Hardy]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about reserves. In 2007, Hull was hit by terrible flooding, which caused a lot of damage. One thing reserves are used for is for emergencies like that—to deal with unforeseen disasters. What will happen if we have a similar flood situation again and the council has spent all its reserves?

[Jo Platt]

I completely agree. We could all mention many instances where the reserves have come into play.

The scale of cuts faced by councils has meant that many have been forced to eat into the reserves to provide the everyday essential services that we all rely on. That is not only unsustainable, but reckless—we cannot play Catch-22 with the fate of our vital local councils. Doing so has led to the frankly astonishing reality of the National Audit Office warning that 10% of councils will exhaust their reserves within three years.

For me, there is another elephant in the room: Brexit. As the Brexit process continues, local authorities are still unaware of the impact that leaving the EU will have on their finances—business rates retention, for example. They also have to deal with the loss of EU structural funding: both areas on which the Government have not given sufficient assurances.

Our councils face the greatest crisis in living memory: an assault on their funding while also adopting ever more responsibility. Put simply, they have been passed the buck without the bucks. The Government’s unsustainable position must come to an end. If they are serious about delivering on housing, about social mobility and about giving powers to local communities, they need to provide the funding that our councils deserve.