Private Rented Sector

Scott Benton Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Eddie Hughes]

As I say, given the other challenges within the Department, I am not sure what our capacity is for that. However, I will commit to meeting the hon. Lady to discuss her suggestions in more detail in very quick time to make sure that I fully understand what she is proposing and see what the capacity might be for that.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

Blackpool has some of the worst private sector housing stock in the entire country, so I welcome the £1 million housing enforcement pilot, which alongside the measures outlined today will make a real impact. May I thank the Minister for working so closely with Blackpool Council so far to devise the pilot, and will he meet me to discuss the £30 million package that his Department is working on for housing-led regeneration within Blackpool?

[Eddie Hughes]

My hon. Friend is an incredible champion for good housing standards in his constituency. Our Department has carried out a deep dive of housing conditions in Blackpool, where we have some of the worst housing conditions. With our commitment as a Department and as a Government to levelling up across the country and ensuring that across the UK we are delivering high-quality housing, I look forward to working with him further and meeting him to discuss his proposals.

Budget Resolutions

Scott Benton Excerpts

Monday 1st November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to speak in this Budget debate and I would like to congratulate the Chancellor on a truly inspiring Budget.

Many of my constituents think that this Conservative Government are profoundly different from any Government who have ever gone before, and listening to the Chancellor’s speech it is easy to see why. It would be unthinkable only a few years ago to hear a Conservative Chancellor delivering such a Budget. The fact that this has happened only goes to underline both how much our party has changed and how much we seriously value our commitment to the new voters who put their trust in us only two years ago in places such as Blackpool South.

NHS funding will rise by £44 billion throughout this Parliament, demonstrating that we are the real party of the NHS. Blackpool has some of the poorest health outcomes in the whole country. When the Prime Minister speaks of levelling up, people expect to see real change in their lives, and this unprecedented investment in our NHS will help to deliver just that, with thousands more GP appointments for my constituents, a £13 million pound upgrade to my local A&E, and a commitment like we have never seen before to close the unacceptable differences in life expectancy between central Blackpool and other parts of the country that have persisted for a generation.

In the same vein, there was a huge increase in our schools budget. This will help to narrow the educational differences that have existed across our nation for far too long. Why is it that a white working-class boy in Blackpool has statistically lower life prospects than any other person in the UK? This is an appalling statistic and a damning indictment of all Governments who have left white working-class communities at the bottom of the pile. If we are serious about levelling up in educational terms, there is no better place to start than in schools in Blackpool.

However, the Chancellor saved the best announcements until last. Increasing the national living wage by 6.6% will deliver a £1,000 pay rise to thousands of my constituents in low-paid jobs: a Conservative Government delivering on our pledge to make sure that work truly pays. Then there is universal credit. I have to confess that I was slightly uneasy at the £20 uplift being taken away. It is easy to give out money but often very difficult to take it back. However, the changes announced in the Budget more than make up for this. Reducing the taper rate from 63% to 55% is a massive step forward in ensuring that work truly pays. It focuses our welfare system on those who are willing to meet the state halfway by working hard. This is exactly what a Conservative Government should be doing. These changes mean that a single mother with two children who works full-time will be £1,200 better off every single year. While the Opposition talk the talk on making sure that work pays and helping those on low incomes, it is the Conservatives who truly deliver. I cannot thank the Government enough for making this change that sends out this clear message to those on low incomes: if you do the right thing and are willing to work hard, this Government will support you all the way.

Post Office Update

Scott Benton Excerpts

Wednesday 19th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Paul Scully]

As I say, compensation packages are a matter for Post Office Ltd and we will continue to work with it on that. Post Office Ltd is working with wronged postmasters to determine how that compensation package should look.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

I know my hon. Friend understands the financial and emotional suffering that this process has caused many postmasters and their families, including some of my constituents, and I welcome this statement today. Is he able to reassure the House that the Government will do everything within their power to encourage affected postmasters to come forward and engage with the inquiry so that their voices can be heard?

[Paul Scully]

Absolutely. It is incumbent on us all, and I really hope that we can give confidence to sub-postmasters—not just those who have had their convictions quashed, but wider members of the group litigation. All postmasters should feel some confidence that they can come forward, tell their stories and know that we hat we are determined to get them answers.

Liverpool City Council

Scott Benton Excerpts

Wednesday 24th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Robert Jenrick]

I am grateful, once again, for the constructive way in which the hon. Lady has approached this issue, like her fellow Liverpool MPs today. The intervention I am proposing is for a maximum of three years, so she is correct to say that there is no need for the commissioners, if they are put in place, to be there for that full term if progress is made faster than that. They will report to me on a six-monthly basis. We can review the matter on each of those occasions, and I will keep the hon. Lady and her colleagues fully informed of my decisions on each occasion. She is absolutely right to say that our sole interest here is the people of Liverpool, the taxpayers of Liverpool, and ensuring that their public services are delivered properly, their money is safeguarded and the city is one in which people feel complete confidence to invest, do business and work with the city council. I hope that, together, that is exactly what we can achieve.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

The report concludes that the cycle of elections in Liverpool reduces scrutiny and inhibits long-term focus. Of course this problem is not just unique to Liverpool. For example, Calderdale, where I was formerly a councillor, is one of the handful of local authorities still yet to approve a local development plan, 10 years into the process. The Labour administration there kicks the can down the road from year to year because it elects in thirds. To help avoid the issues in Liverpool being replicated elsewhere, would the Secretary of State support a review of the current electoral cycle in metropolitan borough councils?

[Robert Jenrick]

I will give further thought to my hon. Friend’s suggestion, but I agree that it would be better for councils to move to all-out elections, and—unless there are exceptional reasons to the contrary—it would be better if councillors were elected in single-member wards. Max Caller’s report clearly makes that recommendation for Liverpool, and he had made that recommendation in the past, having witnessed dysfunctional councils with poor scrutiny and accountability in other parts of the country. It seems to be a thread running through those councils that have got into extreme difficulties. That is something we should reflect on, and I will refer to it in due course.

Towns Fund

Scott Benton Excerpts

Thursday 4th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

Over £129 million of Government funding has been pumped into Blackpool since my election, including £39.5 million from the towns fund—the highest single amount awarded to any town in England. I place on record my sincere thanks to the Government for the extraordinary level of funding that Blackpool has received, something never before witnessed on this scale. I know it will make a real and sustained difference to the businesses and residents I represent.

It is fantastic to see that despite grappling with covid-19 and the challenges it brings, the Government are committed to levelling up and ensuring that constituencies such as mine will not be left behind. The £39.5 million town deal is being used to fund regeneration projects across my constituency, as well to lever in private investment for new development. Most notably, the money allocated to the central development project will bring £300 million-worth of private investment into Blackpool and deliver more than 1,000 new jobs. Our famous illuminations, which are enjoyed by almost 4 million visitors every year, will also receive an upgrade thanks to the towns fund.

Unfortunately, although we received millions in our town deal and from the getting building fund, Blackpool did not receive the expected grants from the future high streets fund. Receiving a town deal is, of course, independent of any decision on the future high streets fund, and the decision not to approve any of these schemes was because of deficiencies in the bid from Blackpool Council. It is disappointing to say the least that my local authority was unable to satisfy the bid criteria laid down by the Department, and local residents will rightly feel disheartened that Blackpool has missed out as a consequence.

In that regard, I welcome the fact that the new levelling-up fund requires direct input from Members of Parliament. In my constituency, there is widespread support for reopening Blackpool airport, for commercial passengers flights and for a new rail loop to increase train services. Those proposals have received lukewarm support at best from Blackpool Council but would provide a huge boost to the local economy, by creating jobs, increasing tourism and securing investment. The levelling-up fund provides a vital opportunity for Members to submit proposals that attract local support in instances such as these, where there is potentially a lack of local authority co-operation. So many people are predicting that once the pandemic is over there will be a rise in domestic tourism, and thanks to Government funding supercharging regeneration in Blackpool, we will be able to take advantage.

Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement

Scott Benton Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Robert Jenrick]

As Secretary of State for local government, I am familiar with people saying that there is not enough money; that, I think, is a refrain that all of my predecessors of all parties have known. However, I do not think it is fair with respect to Enfield this year. We have provided it with £43.6 million of covid-19 funding so far. We have provided it with £44 million for its local business community, and the settlement that we are setting out today provides a further £12.5 million, taking Enfield’s core spending power to a quarter of a billion pounds. That will be a 5.3% increase—a very substantial increase—for the benefit of the hon. Gentleman’s council and his constituents.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

At the start of this pandemic, the Government stated that they would provide local authorities with all the support they needed to get through these challenging times. The total amount of additional Government support that Blackpool Council has received since March to support local services and businesses now stands at over £129 million, and my council’s finance officers can scarcely believe that the position is so healthy at this stage. In spite of this, the temptation of many Labour-run councils, including my own, will be to go for a hefty council tax increase next year. Will my right hon. Friend join me in urging those councils to demonstrate restraint, and to make sure we consider how to get value for money from local services?

[Robert Jenrick]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point, and I am very happy to give him my full support. When providing public services, local councils will need to balance their individual financial positions with the needs of their own constituents and residents—hard-working people whose incomes will be under pressure.

With respect to Blackpool Council, as my hon. Friend says, we provided it with an exceptional degree of support over the course of this year. Its core spending power is £148 million, so the sum that he quotes is very significant in that context. Some £26 billion has gone to pay for that council’s covid-19 expenditure, and it is also, of course, the recipient of our first towns fund town deal, amounting to £39.5 million of investment into Blackpool. That will, I think, go in part to ensure that the Blackpool illuminations are back and brighter than ever next year.

Leaseholders and Cladding

Scott Benton Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Christopher Pincher]

I point the right hon. Gentleman to the specific criteria in the building safety fund, which was published earlier this year. As I have said and will say again, we will work with Michael Wade to make sure that there are solutions to what is a very complicated issue. There may be more than one element to the package of solutions to resolve this challenge. I do not want to give a running commentary to the House on the progress of that work, but it is ongoing, and we hope that we can make some further and concrete announcement soon to give succour to the points made by the right hon. Gentleman and reassurance to others in the House.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

I welcome the £1 billion the Government have made available through the building safety fund for the removal of unsafe non-ACM cladding. Is my right hon. Friend able to update the House with regard to the number of applications to the fund and how quickly those can be reviewed and processed so that the work can finally be done?

[Christopher Pincher]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He campaigns hard and long for his constituents in Blackpool South. We have now advanced more than 100 applications and the first payments for work will be made imminently. I am confident that the full allocation of £1 billion that the Chancellor made available in the Budget earlier this year will be made by the end of this financial year, for which the money was made available.

CCRC Decision on 44 Post Office Prosecutions

Scott Benton Excerpts

Monday 5th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

The Horizon litigation process has caused immeasurable financial and emotional suffering and distress to the sub-postmasters who have been affected, including some of my constituents. Will my hon. Friend commit to studying whatever recommendations may come forward from the inquiry to ensure that this never happens again?

[Paul Scully]

Yes—one of the reasons for making it a non-statutory inquiry is so that we can get the answers quickly, study them, put things in place, and ensure that the Post Office has put the structures in place to ensure that it never happens again. We can keep its feet to the fire to make that work.

Oral Answers to Questions

Scott Benton Excerpts

Monday 5th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for the unprecedented level of financial support that his Department has provided to regenerate Blackpool town centre—not just the £8.6 million that we received over the course of the summer but the £50 million that we are expecting to receive via the towns fund and the future high streets fund. Can he reassure me that regenerating towns such as Blackpool will remain at the very heart of this Government’s levelling up agenda as we get the economy back on track?

[Robert Jenrick]

My hon. Friend has been a doughty champion for Blackpool in his time in the House so far. It is absolutely right that Blackpool receives further investment to help it to continue to drive forwards. That is why I am pleased that it is a recipient of funding from the high streets fund and the towns fund. I look forward to announcing the outcome of both this autumn.

Lifting the Lockdown: Workplace Safety

Scott Benton Excerpts

Wednesday 6th May 2020 Commons Chamber

[Paul Scully]

Communication is so important in this. We have seen how effective the message about staying home and saving lives has been so far. What we must now do is work with businesses to ensure that they have fully communicated the message on safe guidelines for their workplaces. Similarly, we need to make it clear to employees, as we are now doing, that those who cannot work from home, unless they are in a business that has specifically been asked to close, can travel to work, but they need to be considerate about that and ensure that they work within the social distancing rules. Yes, communication is everything, and I think we all have a responsibility to get those messages across.

[Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con) [V]]

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is vital that people are protected when they return to work? As we now move to this second phase, will the Government commit to providing clear and concise guidance to employers on how they can best protect their staff?

[Paul Scully]

The Government remain committed to supporting business during this unprecedented change. We are preparing for the next phase of tackling covid-19 in the ways I have outlined, and how we can lift the social distancing measures in a phased way, at the right time and guided by the science. We are involving Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive to ensure that we have the latest guidance on which to base our planning.