Coastal Towns (Government Policy)

Laura Sandys Excerpts

Tuesday 20th July 2010 Westminster Hall

[Laura Sandys (South Thanet) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) for introducing this subject and for being a strong champion of coastal towns and the issues and challenges facing them. As many hon. Members have said, coastal towns have different and unique characteristics, and it is important to examine and address them in policy terms. South Thanet is one of the most beautiful parts of the country—I am sure that other hon. Members will claim that for their constituencies—but it is the 64th poorest district in the country, which is not exactly the usual profile of the south-east. We have the highest number of looked-after children in the south-east. Two wards have more than 80% of privately rented properties and most tenants are housing benefit recipients, and 39% of our economy is in the public sector. Some 15% of the private sector probably supports that public sector investment. That is a precarious economic model looking into the future.

During the past 13 years, despite many years of a booming economy, Thanet has not benefited proportionately to the rest of the south-east. In some areas, deprivation has significantly increased. With the difficulties that we face, we cannot build on, or support ourselves through, the previous economic successes of the past 10 years. The economic profile inland is totally and radically different, which I know is the same for many of my colleagues with seaside constituencies. Canterbury has a significantly different economic and social make-up from Thanet, Dover or Hastings and Rye.

During the past 13 years the previous Government pumped millions of pounds into my area. That was well-intentioned, but the result was an increase in deprivation. There were top-down assessments of what was needed, little or no involvement of the community, and outreach workers who had no knowledge of the area; and an increasing number of projects focused on deprivation attracted more deprivation to our area.

[Bill Esterson]

As a man of Kent, I am familiar with Thanet and the problems in Ramsgate that the hon. Lady described well. I understand her point, but cutting money is not the way to deal with the problem. Other hon. Members have called for cross-departmental co-operation, but pulling the plug disproportionately—that is what is on the table at the moment—will not solve the problem. I agree that money could be better spent and that lessons could be learned from the past, but I hope the hon. Lady agrees that we need continued investment, not cuts at a time when the private sector—

[Mr Christopher Chope (in the Chair)]

Order. I must cut the hon. Gentleman off.

[Laura Sandys]

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point, but in many ways the money that was invested in our area was an incentive for deprivation, not aspiration. We need a different approach.

[Mr Graham Stuart]

Another aspect of the previous Government’s endless expenditure of money with little delivery for coastal towns was regeneration partnerships, which lasted for a short period and then came to an end. There was never any follow-through. Coastal towns need a consistent policy framework and consistent work to develop their economic potential. What they do not need is short-run, small projects that capture a headline, or eye-catching initiatives that do not deliver on the ground. That is what happened too often.

[Laura Sandys]

I absolutely agree. We had many short-term projects. My area of Kent ended up as a centre of excellence for deprivation, which was a result of money being deployed from the centre with little community involvement. I am talking not about less funding but funding that incentivises new businesses and builds a stronger economy, with a sense of future and aspiration.

We have become a magnet for vulnerable people. I was talking to a young couple who had been sent to Thanet from Rochester to ensure that they received all the services they needed, having kicked their drug habit. They looked to Thanet to provide them with rehabilitation and services such as mental health support. Many parts of the south-east, such as London and Kent, use some of our seaside towns to receive people with such issues. It is important to address those issues, but they should be addressed by the local authority in question. We cannot be a centre of rehabilitation services for the whole of the south-east.

My message is clear and important. Our NHS trust and our GPs are there to support our own community. We are there to support others when we can, but we must not have incentives or investment that further attract people, when we have ever-less capacity to ensure that we can support them into the economy with the necessary jobs.

We also have a problem with looked-after children from out of the area that has not been addressed in the past 13 years. Charities have been clear about the impact on those children, who come from as far away as Birmingham, Hounslow and Richmond, which may be two and a half to three hours away from where they are located, in Margate, Ramsgate or Broadstairs. That is not good for children and it is not right for them to be brought up in such places, away from their extended families. I am pleased that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Education has made a clear commitment that he will enforce the guidance that looked-after children should not, except in extreme circumstances, be located more than 20 miles from their original local authority.



I am pleased that we are looking at the issue of housing benefit, because in my area, if someone owns a house in multiple occupation, they can receive a return of between 11% and 14% on their investment due to the low property prices. An equivalent HMO in Westminster—I do not know how many there are—would make a return of between 5% and 7%. We cannot have a system where the returns in coastal towns are so high that those places become a magnet for HMOs and landlords who are attracted to the cheap property prices.

I will add a word of caution. If housing benefit is to be universally reduced, we must take care to ensure that seaside towns with their low property prices and cheaper living costs do not once again become a magnet for those on benefits who come from outside the area.

[Ian Swales (Redcar) (LD)]

I am from Redcar, and on Thursday there is a planning hearing about having HMOs—which will involve secure accommodation for people on bail, remand and so on—in the heart of our resort. There will be massive financial returns for the people involved, but my concern is about the planning and the fact that even though local residents and the local authority would prefer not to have those hostels built in that place, they have little power to do anything about it because of the planning laws put in place by the previous Government.

[Laura Sandys]

The Minister for Housing recently announced that we are to give local authorities the opportunity for targeted selective licensing. I will urge my council—as I am sure other hon. Members will urge theirs—to ensure that HMOs undergo a severe and rigorous licensing process so that we start to create a deterrent, and so that seaside towns do not become a dumping ground for many different social problems.

[Mr Graham Stuart]

May I chide my hon. Friend a little? One of the great—and rarely remarked on—legacies of the last Labour Government was that they built so few houses. There was a tremendous increase in housing need and vast increases in council waiting lists. I would hate to see councils remove the one possibility for people to have a home and roof over their head because of the popularity of the local area. That is a result of the failure of the last Government and we must address the issue at its root. We must not ruin things before we do that.

[Laura Sandys]

My concern is specifically with housing stock. My constituency has enough housing, but it is in an incredibly bad state and there are a lot of empty properties that need to be brought back into the housing stock. One would not want to keep a dog in some of the flats I have been into. The neglect and lack of responsibility that some—not all—landlords have shown towards their tenants is not acceptable. More houses need to be built, but I would like to see a lot of empty houses brought back into the housing stock in a safe and adequate condition.

On the upside, there are great opportunities. As my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness has discussed during this debate and at many conferences, tourism is one of the most effective ways of stimulating small businesses and ensuring a greater number of start-ups, and not just specifically tourist-sector businesses. Tourism brings in foreign currency, spurs new businesses in associated companies and supports our high streets. It offers our less-skilled work force more jobs. Therefore, we must ensure that the domestic tourism agenda and the small business sector are seen as important drivers of the recovery that we badly need in our coastal towns.

I am delighted that following a parliamentary question, the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk)—he was in the Chamber recently—has agreed to meet a delegation of MPs and to focus on how we can boost the tourism sector. We need a clear set of policies to accommodate the vulnerabilities of our seaside towns. I believe that the coalition Government will put those policies in place and ensure that that we are not left, yet again, at the end of the line.

[Mr Christopher Chope (in the Chair)]

Before I call the next speaker, if we are to fit in everybody who wishes to speak, contributions need not be longer than five minutes—perhaps less.