Blackpool: Regeneration

Scott Benton Excerpts

Thursday 1st February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Ind)]

It is a pleasure to open this Adjournment debate on the regeneration of Bond Street and Waterloo Road in Blackpool, two areas of my constituency in particular need of capital investment, for reasons that will become clear.

Before I go on to speak particularly about those two areas, it would be remiss of me not to elaborate more on the significant level of capital and revenue regeneration moneys that have already flown into my constituency, thanks to the efforts of this Government: £400 million is the total of additional investment that has come into Blackpool since I was elected in 2019—it is a staggering figure. For all the criticisms thrown at this Government by the Opposition, the commitment of Ministers and different Prime Ministers from this Government to levelling up, and to Blackpool in particular, cannot be understated. That commitment is already bearing fruit in the substantial progress we are making, not just in terms of levelling up the different parts of Blackpool, but in getting people the well-paid jobs they need so badly and in welcoming investment into my constituency.

I would be here until midnight if I went through all the individual funding pots we have been allocated, but I will not test your patience, Mr Deputy Speaker. I will give the House just a flavour of the different funding that has come to Blackpool, courtesy of this Government’s faith in the work we are doing locally. We have secured £40 million for the court relocation, which has allowed a £300 million private investment project—one of the largest private investments in the whole of the north-west—on the old Blackpool central train station site. It will create 1,000 jobs and lead to tens of millions of pounds of additional consumer spending coming to Blackpool.

We have been granted £40 million for a brand new Multiversity, providing the next generation with the skills they need to get on in life. Some £39.5 million, provided by one of the largest town deals in the country, has been spent upgrading the Blackpool illuminations, creating thousands of jobs at the enterprise zone and a new sports hub at Revoe. On top of that, we have £15 million in levelling-up funding for transport improvements in the town centre, a further £8 million in levelling-up funding to redo the former post office building on Abingdon Street, and a plethora of extra funding for health, education, crime, cultural and sporting projects, all of which will lay the groundwork for investment in regeneration in Blackpool.

If we are getting so much money into Blackpool, what is the purpose of this Adjournment debate? It would be remiss of me not to point out that Blackpool is the most deprived local authority area in England, and it has often been said that my constituency is the most in need of levelling up. The communities that are the subject of this debate are in the top 0.1% most deprived communities in the entire country and in the second most deprived ward of some 8,500 wards in England. That ward and the communities of Revoe, Central Drive, Bond Street and Waterloo Road have significant challenges with poor health; low life expectancy, on a par with sub-Saharan Africa; a drug-related death total that is the highest in the western world; and skills and education deficiencies that are sadly the highest in western Europe. The unemployment total is four times the national average.

In addition to those problems, the housing stock in these communities is among the worst in the country. It is estimated that a third of the properties in inner Blackpool are deemed to be “non-decent” by current standards. Poor housing is associated with a wide range of health conditions, and our local NHS practitioners estimate that the cost to the council and other local stakeholders is an additional £11 million because of the health conditions with which people present as a consequence of their appalling housing conditions. On top of that, some 10% of our working-age population is out of the workforce due to ill health and the vast majority of those people will live in substandard housing.

We talk about levelling up, and it is great for Ministers to cut the ribbon on a shiny new high street or a brilliant new project—we want that as part of the housing-led regeneration project I am talking about—but levelling up is ultimately about changing people’s lives. It is about empowering them to have the educational opportunities, the health outcomes and the employment opportunities that people want to see. In the case of Blackpool, that comes down to housing, because far too many local people live in housing that was not fit for human beings 100 years ago, and certainly is not nowadays. It is a stain on this country that, in Blackpool, we have housing in the condition that it is currently in, so housing-led regeneration is desperately needed.

Despite some of the challenges that I have outlined, the areas of Waterloo Road, Bond Street and Revoe are proud communities where people live with hopes and aspirations not just for themselves, but for their children as well. There are many successful new businesses operating—

--- Later in debate ---

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—(Mark Jenkinson.)

[Scott Benton]

Despite the challenges in these communities, the high streets are embedded with many new and successful businesses, such as Sarah at the Pitstop Café, the Bull pub, Rick at the Tube Station and Chris at Royal Oak Furnishings to mention just a few. But they need support if their high street is to thrive and if they are to make a successful going concern of those businesses.

As Conservatives, we believe in fiscal prudence and discipline and appreciate that the Government cannot throw money at every problem and just make it okay. We cannot legislate to increase people’s living standards. Ultimately, it comes down to private investment, businesses being creative, and people working hard and generating wealth in the community. As Conservatives, we have to recognise that the market can on occasion fail, and there can be such a deterioration of conditions in particular localities that Government intervention for the longer term is needed. I would strongly argue that this is a unique case where the conditions in this community are such that it cannot continue without Government investment. In short, these communities have been thriving in the past and they can do so again, but only with Government help. Not only is this community a particularly important case and in need of regeneration and investment, but I would argue that Bond Street and the Waterloo area have been missed out time and again when we talk about capital investment.

When Blackpool Council has asked my opinion on the levelling-up process, I have stated consistently for the past four years that this area should be an absolute priority for local and national Government investment. Yet time and again, levelling-up bids have come forward to this Government without this community being included. That is not to say that I am not thankful for the funding that I have previously outlined—of course I am. Those schemes are important and will help to create jobs, but people in these communities feel that they have been thrown on the scrapheap, and that local and national Government do not care about what goes on in their area and do not want to see it improved.

I know that that is not the case from this Government’s point of view, and I know that the Government are working with Blackpool Council, which, after years of ignoring this community, has finally woken up over the past 12 or 18 months and promised to work with the Government to try to come up with a bespoke package for this area, along the lines of housing-led regeneration and improvements to the high streets. I am so pleased that the Government are working with Blackpool Council not just on this particular project, but on many of the other initiatives and programmes that I have already outlined.

I would like to think that I have articulated why this community is a special case for regeneration. Civic pride is so important in public life, and I am afraid that many people in this community have lost hope. When people lose hope, it is very difficult for them to get it back. For four years, I have been telling people that regeneration moneys will come. It is important that other areas of Blackpool get their fair share, too, but I have said that regeneration moneys will come. People are now expecting the Government and Blackpool Council to deliver on those promises.

I know the Minister understands the importance of people living in good housing. The fact is that levelling up ultimately comes down to improving somebody’s own ability to use their natural skills and flair to get on in life. It is so important that the fundamental issue in these communities—poor housing—is addressed through the partnership with Blackpool Council. I am led to believe that thanks to the hard work of not just this Minister but some of his predecessors, the business case for that project has been transferred to the Treasury for sign-off. The purpose of this debate is to request that the Minister and the Secretary of State do everything that they can to continue their correspondence with the Treasury and try to get the project over the line.

The people of Bond Street, Waterloo Road, Revoe and Central Drive are looking at the outcome of this debate with interest. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get this community the funding that it so badly needs. This Conservative Government have been fantastic in standing by the people of Blackpool for the next four years. I have every confidence that they will be able to get the project over the line and give the area a new lease of life, and some hope at long last.

Levelling Up

Scott Benton Excerpts

Monday 20th November 2023 Commons Chamber

[Jacob Young]

I would be delighted to meet the hon. Gentleman to discuss the project further. I would say to him and his colleagues in Northern Ireland that the key thing is that the UK Government and, I think, everyone in this House want to see the Northern Ireland Executive restored. When they are restored, we can discuss how best to implement levelling up in his constituency and across Northern Ireland.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Ind)]

I thank the Minister for the further funding award for Blackpool, meaning that we have now received well over £400 million of additional Government investment since 2019. The Minister will be aware of the partnership work between Blackpool Council and his Department to deliver a levelling-up project in Revoe and Bond Street in my constituency. Is he able to meet me to see how we can get this project over the line and delivered for those communities?

[Jacob Young]

I am delighted to confirm that more than £15 million of investment is coming into Blackpool from round 3 of the levelling-up fund, announced today. That builds on the other investments we are making in Blackpool, which my hon. Friend mentioned. I will work with him on the projects he has outlined, to see what can be done to ensure they are delivered in a timely manner.

Funding for Parks

Scott Benton Excerpts

Tuesday 24th October 2023 Westminster Hall

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Ind)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered funding for parks.

It is a pleasure to be in the Chamber with you, Mr Pritchard, a fellow Shropshire person and product of the open spaces of Shropshire. I will speak generally about parks and then in more detail about the problems faced by our parks and open spaces.

Parks are a major feature of our lives, providing opportunities to recreate, play games and observe nature, and for children to grow up. They are wonderful spaces. The oldest public park in Britain is in Birkenhead. Conceived in 1843 by Joseph Paxton, it developed into a wonderful open space—it is one of the largest parks in the country—and became iconic. It inspired Central Park in New York, which then inspired Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. So from Birkenhead we get San Francisco and the whole process of developing parks and open spaces. The park was an amazing achievement, and Paxton was, of course, the one who designed the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition.

Throughout the 19th century there was big development of parks, as benefactors provided money for them. There were redoubtable fighters for public open space in every city who were concerned about growing industrialisation and people’s loss of amenity and contact with nature. Hampstead Heath came from that process. In some cases, parks were developed from what had previously been common land. Sadly, in many other places, they were not, and we became a country of very densely populated urban areas. The demand for parks grew. In some cases they were developed. In some cases there are more parks in suburban parts of our cities than in the centre because of the way industrial development happened.

In a sense, the parks came into their own in this country during the covid pandemic. When we were locked down, people could recreate in parks. I have a bizarre memory of a man riding around Finsbury Park on a bicycle with a loudspeaker telling people to go home because it was too full. I could, of course, see his point, but I could feel the sadness of people who wanted to be outside enjoying a bit of urban space.

It is inner urban open space that I want to say the most about. My borough, Islington, is geographically quite small. It is one of the most densely populated boroughs in the country, if not the most densely populated. Until the end of the second world war in 1945, the only real open space in my constituency was Highbury Fields—there was Arsenal football ground as well, if we want to call that a public open space—in the south of the borough, on the edge of the City of London.

In 1945, something interesting happened across London and the other cities. The Abercrombie report, which was written during the war and was a planning idea for how London would develop after the war, was an incredibly far-sighted document. I might disagree with some of it—it was too keen on road building and not keen enough on other forms of transport—but it had a real vision for greening cities and enabling people to live with nature and have public open space near them.

At that time, in some parts of London there was less than 0.1 acres of open space per 1,000 people. In other words, there was no open space for many people in many parts of London. Abercrombie’s proposal, which has not totally been realised, was that London should aspire to have 4 acres of open space per 1,000 population. He realised that that would be very difficult, so he proposed a series of green routes that would link large open spaces in different parts of the city.

Most of the parks in my borough have been developed since 1945; some have been developed very recently. I have an aerial photograph in my office of a place called Wray Crescent, which, as the name indicates, is a crescent of housing; the picture shows the houses and gardens and so on. It is not there any more. The houses were all bought by the local authority and demolished, and a park was created in that space. There is a school next to my office that once had houses in what is now the school’s garden. Those houses were bought by the Inner London Education Authority and demolished to make a garden for the school. That is an incredibly brave thing for any public authority to do. Now, we would not even think about buying houses in order to create a park or open space because of the costs involved. We have to remember that some of this work was done by very far-sighted people.

We have nearly always achieved parks through a combination of wealthy benefactors—in some cases big charities, or even big landowners—and campaigns by ordinary people who just want something decent and to create more open space. One of my favourite parks in my constituency is Gillespie Park. I even led an Adjournment debate on it in the 1980s—[Laughter.] I have been here a long time, you see. At the time, Gillespie Park was a disused railway sidings. British Rail wanted to sell it, and there was a huge debate and campaign locally. Eventually, it won recognition as an open space, partly because British Rail made the fundamental public relations error of allowing people to use it on a temporary basis. Once people have been allowed to use a public open space temporarily, they are not going to give it up—and they did not give up Gillespie Park.

I was at the park on Sunday. It is beautiful: it is heavily wooded, with an amazing variety of bird and plant life, as well as fish life in the pond. We are very proud of it. There was an “apple day” on Sunday; hundreds of people came to enjoy different varieties of apple. I spoke to many of them, and I would guess that more than half of them have no open space of their own. They have no gardens or balconies—no open space whatsoever. The park is their lung. We have to remember that parks are there for everybody. We in this Chamber may have our own gardens at home, which we probably enjoy and love, but the vast majority of my constituents do not. Their only open space is the street or the park. They have no open space of their own. We should think very hard about that.

I was encouraged to seek this debate by the issues surrounding Finsbury Park, which is in the Tottenham constituency, just outside mine; I let the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) know that I would be raising it. Finsbury Park, which was established 150 years ago by the Metropolitan Board of Works, was designed to be very much bigger, but the board gave up on its expansion and sold some of the land for housing. It is still a substantial park, and a vital open space. After its development by the Metropolitan Board of Works, the park was taken over by the London County Council, and then by the Greater London Council, which actually ran it very well. The history of the park shows all kinds of things, from balloons taking off to anti-aircraft guns during the second world war and peace demonstrations in 1914. It has been a place for people all that time.

Like every other council, Haringey has funding problems, and it frequently lets out large parts of the park for concerts and entertainment and so on. The most recent figure I could find on the council’s income from concerts was £1.2 million for one year, which is a great deal of money. That involves a very substantial part of the park being taken over for several weeks on end, which causes a great deal of resentment. I am a patron of the Friends of Finsbury Park. Some time ago, a legal action was taken against Haringey Council to require it to spend the benefits of the concerts on the park, rather than on the generality of council expenditure. Although that action was successful, the park is still denied to a lot of people for quite a long time.

Managing the use of parks is always complicated and difficult; there are many demands, and it means trying to work out everybody’s life in a park. There are those who want to play football, cricket or baseball; those who want to just sit around doing nothing and playing music; those who want to play informal games; those who want to have birthday parties, and all the other things. There are also those who are keen on protecting trees and improving the biodiversity and natural life of parks. Managing parks is not simple. If we throw into the mix underfunding of the park, and pressure on the relevant local authority to raise more and more money from it in order to maintain it, we end up in a self-defeating circle where we lose the use of the park in order to make money to keep the park, which we cannot use. We have lost the use of it because of the many concerts that go on.

I am not against having concerts, festivals and parties in parks—absolutely not. I just think there has to be a balance and a limit on the numbers of them. They are not cheap and therefore not necessarily completely available to everybody. For example, the lowest priced Live Nation tickets last year in Finsbury Park were £190, way beyond the likely spending power of young people in the immediate area.

The problem affects my favourite local park, which I often use. It is a wonderful place and I am worried for its future, as I am worried for every other park’s future, unless we have some degree of guaranteed funding and protection of them. I can see the Minister becoming anxious, because I told him that I would say nothing he could possibly disagree with. I look forward to an intervention from him agreeing with my view.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Ind)]

The right hon. Gentleman is giving a great speech and articulating the value of parks to our many local communities, including those across north London. Many parks are under unprecedented threat, whether from financial interests or from development—not least Stanley Park in my constituency, which was voted England’s best park last year. A local authority-led plan to develop part of the park has caused enormous disquiet in my constituency. Will the right hon. Gentleman join me in urging local authorities to be mindful of the health and wellbeing benefits of parks and to be conscious about protecting their status?

[Jeremy Corbyn]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. Stanley park is a wonderful park and a great place. Many other parks around the country are iconic and beautiful and all are at risk because of the danger of local authorities agreeing to a planning rule change that would allow parts of parks to be sold off.

It all seems very attractive at the time. Somebody in the council says, “Okay, we will sell off this bit of the park and get x million for this piece of land, and that will enable us to plug a spending gap somewhere else.” It is always a very attractive option. The problem is we will never, ever get the park back. Once it is gone, it is gone. It will not return. That is why I look forward to the Minister’s response and to the response to the Select Committee report.

We need to look again at the strength of legislation protecting public open spaces from development and from sale by local authorities so that that option is simply not available to local authorities. I am not saying that most local authorities want to sell parks—they do not—but we have to make sure parks are protected for all time. Fields in Trust has produced some interesting information. Between 2010 and 2021, there was a loss of £690 million in park funding across the whole country. Some 32% of parks have recorded a loss of frontline staff and 41% a loss of management; 23% have cut their development plans for any park; and 62% of local authorities—this is the saddest figure of all—expect to see the quality and appearance of their parks decline in the coming years.

The Government have said that they want money to be put aside for the development of new parks, and they have done that through the levelling-up fund. The number of new parks proposed is not very many—I think it was 100. Unless I have misunderstood the information that I have read in the various reports, only £9 million has been set aside for them. Well, we cannot develop even one park with £9 million, so I think that needs to be looked at carefully. If we want new parks, they have to be funded from somewhere, which I will come on to in a moment.

The Communities and Local Government Committee inquiry in 2016-17 was an important one, and it was revisited by the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee and by the Government in 2022. Clearly, a lot had changed in those five years. Covid had come, which enhanced the importance of parks but also led to a new round of funding problems for local authorities—£330 million less than in 2010 is now being spent on parks. The cuts in park expenditure have gone on and on. It is not clear what level of urban uplift is going to go on parks.

In a reply to a request from the Chair of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), the Minister said that he thought local authorities were best placed to decide how money is spent. Yes, that is absolutely true, but unless there is overall protection for the level of expenditure on parks they will obviously be a place where cuts are made. If a councillor is faced with a massive bill on social care, or other aspects of key services, people will say that the parks do not matter, so they can be cut a bit more. What people forget in that short-sighted view of things is that we can help to alleviate the mental health crisis with the provision of open spaces.

Oral Answers to Questions

Scott Benton Excerpts

Monday 16th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The scourge of damp and mould, particularly but not exclusively in the social and private rented sector, is an issue that the Government recognise that we need to tackle. That is why we are providing additional support to local government and to housing associations in order to deal with that issue. I look forward in particular to dealing with the hon. Gentleman to assess the situation in Tiverton and Honiton.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Ind)]

I thank the Secretary of State for the tremendous support he has provided to Blackpool, with more than £140 million in levelling-up moneys allocated so far. Is he able to provide an update on the plans for further housing-led regeneration in the Bond Street and Revoe areas of my constituency?

[Jacob Young]

I fully recognise the importance of supporting Blackpool and places across the country in their ambitions for regeneration. Homes England and my Department are continuing to work closely with Blackpool Council to level up the town and improve the quality of housing. I look forward to my Department’s saying more about that in the future.

Birmingham City Council

Scott Benton Excerpts

Tuesday 19th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The overall health of local government matters hugely, and the financial health of local government matters hugely. That is why we are bringing forward the new Office for Local Government. I think the hon. Lady and I will have to agree to disagree on the root cause of the problem in Birmingham. As I said earlier, Birmingham’s core spending power has increased significantly, and other local authorities that have not seen their core spending power increase by the same amount are managing their finances effectively, but I hope we can work together to ensure that, wherever responsibility has lain in the past—we may disagree on that—we can serve the people of Edgbaston and all of Birmingham better in future.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Ind)]

Labour-run Blackpool Council currently has a budget deficit of more than £23 million, which is one of the largest in the country compared with its revenue budget. Despite this, the council continues to fritter away taxpayers’ money, not least in spending £174,000 on six trees and in giving councillors a pay rise. To ensure its financial position does not deteriorate further, will the Secretary of State join me in urging the council to get the basics right, to end its pursuit of ideologically driven projects that are not supported by residents and to end all wasteful spending immediately?

[Michael Gove]

I love Blackpool and I love trees, but £174,000 for six trees is £29,000 a tree. Some trees they must have in Blackpool.

More seriously, the local authority faces challenges, but Blackpool’s two Members have been very successful in securing additional central Government expenditure to help to regenerate the centre of Blackpool and to secure new investment. Whatever views one might take of Blackpool Council—and it does seem as if it is paying slightly more for its trees than it could have paid in most garden centres—central Government have nevertheless shown how partnership and levelling up can secure real change.

Houses in Multiple Occupation: Approval

Scott Benton Excerpts

Tuesday 16th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Darren Henry (Broxtowe) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for calling me to introduce this debate on the effect of houses in multiple occupation on communities, specifically Beeston in my constituency of Broxtowe.

HMOs, also known as shared houses, are properties that are rented out to multiple tenants who share communal facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms. Although HMOs provide a flexible and affordable housing option for many people, they can also have a significant impact on the feel and look of communities.

Beeston is the largest town in Broxtowe and sits just south-west of Nottingham. It has become a very multicultural town, which has brought new arts and cultures to the area. Beeston also has a long history of being a family-focused town. A local business owner who has lived in the town their whole life says Beeston

“was a town where everyone knew their neighbours and it held community at its heart.”

My constituent Pauline recently wrote to me to say that she felt as if Beeston had lost its identity, which is a feeling that I know is shared by many within the community. This is partly due to the location of Beeston, which hugs the campus of the University of Nottingham. Owing to this, Beeston has become home to a significant student population.

I make it clear that the student population has had an incredibly positive impact on Beeston. Features such as the new cinema complex and accompanying restaurants, including a delicious dessert bar, Rassam’s Creamery, might not be in Beeston without the student population. They bring revenue to local businesses, as well as support to our night-time economy. It is important that when looking at HMO regulations, we do not make houses unaffordable to students. However, a balance must be struck between the student population and local residents, who are often losing out on resources and facilities in order for further HMOs to be created. That is not fair on those families who have resided in Beeston, often for generations.

One of the most significant effects of HMOs is their impact on the availability and affordability of housing for families and individuals. In areas where HMOs are prevalent, such as Beeston, there can be a shortage of family homes and rental properties, leading to higher rents and a lack of available housing for those in need. I received an email today from Alistair, a resident in Beeston, about many young families being priced out of Beeston because of landlords quickly securing properties to be used as student housing. He stated that it is causing Beeston to lose the lively vibe it has become known for. It is incredibly important that families who have lived in Beeston for many years, and even new families wanting to relocate, do not find themselves priced out of the area.

The concentration of HMOs in certain areas can lead to a transient population, with tenants coming and going quickly, resulting in a lack of stability and the sense of local community cohesion being broken. Further havoc can be caused when our communities of HMOs are not given thorough consideration before final approval. Recently, a construction company damaged a water main in Beeston while constructing a new HMO, leading to many houses being uninhabitable. Many groups and individuals in the community rallied around to assist the constituents there, and I would like to give a special thanks to those at Christ church in Chilwell for the help they gave. However, many families have been left without answers and indicate to me that no one, as of yet, has been held to account. I have written to the Secretary of State about that specific issue and await a response.

Another impact of HMOs is the strain that they can place on local infrastructure, such as waste management, parking and transportation.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Ind)]

HMOs are a significant concern in my constituency. For decades, we have seen former bed and breakfasts and hotels converted into HMOs, which means that an estimated 23,000 people across the town are now living in them. Time and again, residents speak to me about the problems that those HMOs sometimes create, such as the imbalance in communities or antisocial behaviour, an issue that is at the forefront of my inbox. Blackpool Council has introduced an article 4 direction to ensure that landlords keep on top of those antisocial behaviour issues and that the issue of absentee landlords is addressed. My main concern is my local authority’s ability to ensure that those regulations are followed through and people are held to account. Does my hon. Friend share my concern to ensure that when a local authority has those powers within the licensing system it should use them and hold landlords to account?

[Darren Henry]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, as I completely agree with what he has to say. We need to be careful to ensure that local authorities can stop the proliferation of these HMOs if they negatively impact the communities they are supposed to serve.

HMOs create an increase in demand for services and facilities that were not designed to accommodate the larger number of people living in a single property. That can lead to an increase in litter, noise pollution and overcrowding on public transportation, as we have seen in Beeston. In essence, we must strike a balance between having HMOs and not losing our sense of community.

Ballot Secrecy Bill [Lords]

Scott Benton Excerpts

3rd reading
Friday 24th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend and very sound colleague the Member for Peterborough (Paul Bristow) for promoting the Bill and Lord Hayward for his sterling work in the other place and his work on electoral reform issues over many, many years.

It is absolutely fundamental for democracy that elections are free and fair. Fraudulent voter intimidation or any other form of undue influence on our democracy is simply unacceptable. It is more important than ever that we foster trust in our political system and that the electoral process is above suspicion. Secret voting has been in place since the Ballot Act 1872. Our society rightly believes that it is up to individuals to decide how they will vote; it is not a decision for their family, for local leaders or for any other group to make.

Unfortunately, over recent years we have seen several high-profile cases of unscrupulous behaviour corrupting election results. This has damaged public confidence in the system. Although Tower Hamlets provides the clearest example in recent memory, the problem is by no means limited to any one part of the country. It has been going on for many years.

Having been a local resident in Calderdale at the time, I recall the shocking findings in Halifax during the 2010 general election, when Calderdale Council admitted that 763 postal votes from the Halifax constituency failed to match voter registration records. That prompted the local Conservative party to submit a lengthy dossier to West Yorkshire police, which highlighted a number of mis-practices that were then investigated. They included—but were by no means limited to—voter impersonation, bullying, multiple postal votes dispatched to empty properties, bogus voters and false registration. Much like in Tower Hamlets, I am afraid the police were far too slow to investigate the issues. Frankly, they were reluctant to get involved with what was incorrectly seen as a party political matter.

Lord Pickles rightly identified the practice of family voting as a specific concern in his 2016 review into electoral fraud, in which he recommended the strengthening of guidance and training. As recently as last year, as my hon. Friend pointed out, Democracy Volunteers, an impartial group that observes and reports on UK elections, suggested that family voting continues to be an issue and was witnessed in more than a quarter of the polling stations it visited.

I am particularly concerned that family voting and voter intimidation disproportionately affect women in Asian communities. A 2015 Manchester University paper for the Electoral Commission found evidence among interviewees in Pakistani and Bangladeshi-origin communities that hierarchical family structures often mean that women are expected to follow the lead of the head of the household. This creates additional family voting vulnerability, especially among ethnic minority households. That was also the conclusion of the Democracy Volunteers report on the Tower Hamlets election, which found:

“Those subjected to family voting…were invariably women…from the Asian community and those causing family voting were generally men”.

That absolutely runs contrary to British values. I am concerned that this is just one example of an issue to which cultural sensitivities and misplaced political correctness have frankly caused a blind eye to be turned for far too long.

By introducing a specific new offence, the Bill will clearly demonstrate our commitment to secret voting and will reaffirm an individual’s right to freely choose who they vote for. It will give our brilliant presiding officers more confidence to challenge any suspicious behaviour and, if necessary, involve the police. I believe this is where the Bill will have the most impact, by making it clear that individuals who accompany a voter to a polling booth, or who position themselves nearby with the intention of influencing a voter, will be breaking the law. By making this clear, and by giving presiding officers confidence, we will have the best chance of preventing family voting and ending undue influence at our polling stations. If these practices are not challenged at the polling station, they will simply continue. In passing this Bill, I hope the Electoral Commission will update its guidance to make clear to all concerned the importance of ending these practices once and for all.

Levelling-up Fund Round 2

Scott Benton Excerpts

Thursday 19th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Frazer]

I am sorry that the hon. Member has been unsuccessful. As I mentioned, there is a third round. I look forward to announcing any results of that in due course.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

Blackpool’s successful bid for £40 million from the fund will deliver a new multiversity skills complex, which will help to deliver skills for the jobs of the future. That takes the total amount of additional Government investment that Blackpool has received since I was elected to a staggering £300 million. Does the Minister agree that it is only under this Government that towns such as Blackpool, which have been left behind for decades, can truly be levelled up?

[Lucy Frazer]

I thank my hon. Friend for his campaigning work to improve the area of Blackpool. It is areas like that that we absolutely want to level up, to improve living standards and the lives of communities for those people who are living in Blackpool.

Called-in Planning Decision: West Cumbria

Scott Benton Excerpts

Thursday 8th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The Government are investing in renewables, and the leadership that has been shown by the UK Government and partners across the UK in the provision of offshore wind is a demonstration of that. As I pointed out, when it comes to offshore and onshore wind, steel is a critical component in the manufacture of the turbines that we rely on. If we are to continue to produce steel in future, we will need coking coal for decades to come, and the inspector concludes it is better that it comes from a mine that is net zero.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

I commend the Secretary of State on taking this bold decision, which will help to create hundreds of high-skilled, high-value jobs in a part of the country long forgotten by the Labour party. Does he agree that it would be foolish to leave strategic industries such as steel production reliant on materials sourced from our economic competitors, when we can source the materials we need here at home?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. Again, I refer back to my decision letter, in which I acknowledge that the inspector makes the point in paragraph 21.121 that the effects of downstream emissions as a result of the extraction of this coal

“may well be considered neutral or slightly beneficial when compared with other extractive sources.”

He is referring to the foreign sources of coal that my hon. Friend refers to.

Blackpool: Levelling Up

Scott Benton Excerpts

Tuesday 29th November 2022 Westminster Hall

[Mrs Sheryll Murray (in the Chair)]

I call Scott Benton to move the motion. I will then call the Minister to respond. As is the convention with 30-minute debates, there will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Blackpool and levelling up.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Murray, and to open this debate on levelling up in Blackpool. What is levelling up? Ask the vast majority of British people and, although everybody will have heard of the term, very few will be able to articulate exactly what it is. I suspect that if we asked Conservative MPs, who were elected on a manifesto pledge to level up, we would get 350 different answers on what exactly the term means.

For me, levelling up means a child growing up in Blackpool having exactly the same life chances as a child growing up in Bracknell, Bournemouth, Brighton or anywhere else in the country. There is also a second element to levelling up. It is not just an intergenerational challenge, which takes time; there is also the fact that people love and value their communities and want to see them change, which, of course, requires an instant big bang. The Government’s capital investment programme, levelling-up funds and so on have been so important to address that challenge.

Regional disparities, including those in the north-west and Blackpool particularly, have persisted for far too long. It is fair to say that towns, disproportionately in the north and midlands, have been forgotten by Governments going back a number of decades—but no more. It makes me proud to be a Government Member: this Government are probably the first in history to take levelling up seriously and invest to such an extent in communities such as mine in Blackpool. Sadly, we are top of the list of the communities most in need of levelling up, according to most metrics. That is clearly a place that Blackpool does not want to be. It is something that all stakeholders in the town are trying desperately to address.

Blackpool’s tourism board, Visit Blackpool, probably will not thank me for doing this, but let me illustrate the context of the challenges we face in Blackpool and why we require Government support to try to turn our resort around. According to the multiple deprivation index, we are the most deprived local authority in England. Eight of the top 10 most deprived communities in the whole of England are in Blackpool, including six in my constituency. We have the worst life expectancy in the UK, with life expectancy three years lower on average; however, in the most deprived parts of my constituency and that of my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard), it is 12 years lower on average than the national average.

We have the highest rate of drug-related deaths in the whole of England and we are among the top five most dangerous towns. We have the largest child learning gap, the third highest proportion of obesity among adults and the sixth highest teenage pregnancy rate in England. That is quite a list—I hope it illustrates the need for Government support in Blackpool going forward. However, we have very strong communities and a brilliant, thriving voluntary sector, all of whom work with stakeholders—not least Blackpool Council—to try to turn the situation around.

[Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is setting out a compelling picture of the challenges in Blackpool. Will he join me in praising Business in the Community for the work it has done through Pride of Place to pull together a coherent plan to address the issues he has raised? Will he also join me in urging the Government to reinstate the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Blackpool, which brought together Ministers to address each specific challenge in our town? We need that back now that we have a new Government.

[Scott Benton]

I agree with both points—not just the Business in the Community aspect but the wider policy ask. Following my hon. Friend’s intervention, it would be remiss of me not to highlight the contributions of not just local groups but big businesses in Blackpool, which employ thousands of people and really do put their money where their mouth is when it comes to regeneration. I particularly want to mention people such as Kate Shane and Amanda Thompson, who need a special thanks in that regard.

Although the challenges are stark in Blackpool, it would be remiss of me not to point out the tremendous support received not only from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities but from the Government as a whole since I was elected in 2019. With your indulgence, Mrs Murray, I will read out a compelling but lengthy list of the investment that we have received in Blackpool since 2019.

We have one of the largest town deals in the country, worth 39.5 million, which has been spent on a plethora of different projects, from upgrading the illuminations to the new multiversity, with investment and jobs created at the enterprise zone and a new Revoe sports village. Only two weeks ago the Department gave Blackpool £40 million to relocate the court complex, which will allow a £300 million private sector-led development to go ahead. That creates 1,000 new jobs and pumps £75 million into the economy every single year.

Within weeks of my being elected, we received £8.6 million for the future high streets fund, which is being spent on Abingdon Street market and upgrades at the Houndshill centre. The Government are relocating 3,000 civil service jobs to Blackpool, and that will inject an ongoing £1 million into our local town centre. We have also seen £2.9 million to upgrade the winter gardens and £1 million for the high street action zone, which my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys and I saw at first hand only on Friday, and we have received £650,000 for a homes-led regeneration study of housing projects in Blackpool—a point I will touch on later.

In education spending, £10 million has been spent on the opportunity area, and there is £8.7 million of other educational investment over and above the revenue from the direct grant to schools coming into Blackpool. The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has had £67 million of its debt written off, which means that money can now be spent on servicing patients rather than servicing a debt, and we have a brand-new £25 million upgrade to A&E occurring at the moment.

On transport, we have £20 million for electric buses, £9 million for bus and light rail projects, and £500,000 for the active travel grant. Project ADDER will receive a £1.9 million investment to tackle antisocial behaviour and serious drug crime in Blackpool, £1.1 million for the youth offending team to help get troubled youngsters off our streets, £550,000 for the safer streets fund, and £400,000 to help to address violence against women and girls—a horrific crime in our community. The Minister will be pleased to hear I am nearly at the end of the list, but I hope he can indulge me slightly longer.

The culture recovery fund saw £4.8 million spent on our brilliant Blackpool Grand Theatre and upgrades to the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, where we saw “Strictly” only last week. There was a bid for £12 million for flood defences on our sea walls. We had £80,000 for the changing places fund, £800,000 for the rough sleeping initiative and £1.7 million for the hardship fund.

There has been £237 million of extra investment in Blackpool since I was elected at the 2019 general election. If we include the support throughout the pandemic, that rises to £409 million of extra Government investment, over and above what we give to the local authority and spend on health and education, since 2019. Yet some people in the community question the Government’s commitment to levelling up and question the funding we have had. I hope those figures illustrate the tremendous support that the Government have given to Blackpool over the past few years.

Of course, Blackpool being Blackpool, as much as we have valued that £237 million investment there is always more that we can do, given the extent of the challenges. I know I have been speaking for a while, but I have two or three quick asks of the Government.

The biggest challenge that Blackpool faces, and the reason we are at the level we are in terms of social characteristics and demography, is the housing issue in Blackpool. The Secretary of State has been a bit of a trailblazer in recognising that. If we can tackle some of the grot-spots and the awful conditions in the private sector rental market, it will invariably improve people’s life chances. That is why the £30 million ask for housing-led regeneration in Blackpool is so important. It would be spent on upgrading Bond Street, Waterloo Road, Revoe and the Claremont area. The Government have already committed to a £600,000 feasibility study on that. Improving people’s housing conditions in those areas would be transformative, not just for the next few years but for generations ahead in Blackpool. I know that the Minister is very much aware of that—I spoke to her about it several days ago—and I look forward to meeting her and the Secretary of State once the feasibility process has been considered and concluded in January.

The Minister will not be surprised to hear that my second ask is Blackpool’s £63 million levelling-up fund. Of the £63 million, £40 million would go to the multiversity, which will invariably and conclusively improve people’s life chances, skills and opportunities to face the challenges of the future in Blackpool; £8 million would go to converting the former post office building on Abingdon Street into a brand new five-star hotel, which would completely regenerate that part of the town centre; and £15 million would go on a town centre access scheme.

Those are the two things on which I and my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys are looking for support. In the last few seconds, it would be remiss of me not to mention two non-Departmental asks. One is upgrading and implementing a passing loop on the South Fylde line, which would double the number of trains that come into Blackpool every single hour. That train line services a pleasure beach—the UK’s second most visited tourist attraction—and the upgrade would improve its ability to get visitors in on busy summer days. The second is returning commercial passenger flights to Blackpool airport, which has been my main campaign since 2019. The Government have a brilliant record to sell on regional aviation. We have halved air passenger duty, we are looking to subsidise public service obligation routes, and we have the Union connectivity review. All of that has changed the landscape of regional aviation in this country, but we need support from Blackpool Council to get Blackpool flying once again. The council owns the airport and has the ability to take commercial passenger flights seriously.

The Minister and Members have indulged me long enough. I thank the Department for the superb support it has provided to our town so far. There is always more we can do—hence the distinct asks of the Minister and the Department—but I look forward to continuing to work with the Minister over the coming weeks to address some of the challenges.