Coastal Communities: Government Support

Lee Pitcher Excerpts

Monday 1st June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Nesil Caliskan]

That is a very important point. As my hon. Friend will know, education is a top priority for the Government, which is why we have seen record investment. I believe that coastal communities will benefit from that commitment.

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Nesil Caliskan]

I will make a little progress.

Although short-term holiday lets can be hugely beneficial to local economies, the Government appreciate that their excessive concentration in some areas of the country can impact on the availability and affordability of homes to buy and rent; hon. Members have highlighted some of the challenges. That is why the Government are making progressive changes to the tax system to protect our vital public services and to ensure that housing is primarily seen as a home rather than an investment. Those taxation changes will be important for coastal communities.

Alongside that, the Government have abolished the furnished holiday lets tax regime, meaning that landlords will no longer be incentivised via the tax system to make their properties available for short-term holiday lets. That is an issue that has long been raised by those who live in coastal communities.

On the important points that my hon. Friend the Member for Poole made on health, I recognise that some of the greatest health inequalities can be found in our coastal towns. I am therefore delighted that the Government have made it a core mission to strengthen joined-up approaches between health and social care services so that people experience health services locally in a more integrated way, with a person-centred approach. Coastal areas will really benefit from that joined-up thinking. A neighbourhood health service approach along with reforming the better care fund in line with the commitments set out in the 10-year NHS strategy are all things that will benefit our coastal communities, which are disproportionately impacted by health inequalities.

[Lee Pitcher]

We cannot talk about coastal communities and health without talking about safety, and particularly water safety. Over the past couple of weeks, when we have had hot weather, at least 17 people are known to have died by drowning, many of them children and young adults. Will the Minister talk to other relevant Ministers about holding a national campaign before the summer, when it gets hot once again and children are on school holidays, to ensure that we prevent unnecessary deaths on our waterways?

[Nesil Caliskan]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising an important point. Sadly, over the past decade or so children have become less likely to have swimming lessons, and the consequences have been catastrophic, particularly when we consider coastal communities. I know that my hon. Friend and other hon. Members have already made such representations, and I am happy to take the idea away and ask MHCLG to look further at it. We must also work across Government to ensure that we are doing everything we can to support children and adults to benefit from swimming classes, so that we can keep them safe, as well as communities more generally.

We also need cross-departmental and cross-Government work with the Environment Agency to ensure that water is clean, so that our coastal communities can be enjoyed not just by the people who live in them, but by those who visit them. Clean water is not just a “nice to have”; it is fundamental to the health and safety of everybody who visits coastal towns, and I will ensure through MHCLG that we have an adequate cross-departmental approach on that.

Finally, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Poole for securing this debate. I know that he cares passionately about the issues he raised, which go beyond his coastal area and speak to many constituencies across the country. The identity of our coastal communities is intrinsic to the identity of our country, and each of our coastal communities has a particular identity that is important to the local area. Government investment to ensure that our coastal communities are properly looked after is not just about borders; it is about ensuring that we support people who live in those communities, reduce health inequalities, and ensure that everybody has the opportunity to thrive.

Question put and agreed to.