This is not ground zero for social decay

My hometown of Blackpool is often talked about as a place in decline rather than a place of possibility. Just last week it was reduced to another national headline as the Telegraph called it ‘ground zero for social decay’. It’s seen as a symbol of what has gone wrong, rather than understood as a community living with the sharpest edge of national failure.

In October, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government updated the English Indices of Deprivation for the first time since 2019, marking a rare and important moment to reassess government action.

The Indices rank small areas in England according to deprivation across multiple domains – looking beyond income alone and taking account of housing, access to services, education, employment, health, crime and the living environment.

The Indices are not a league table for shame but a tool for targeting government action. And they should convince the government that action must focus on Blackpool. Because if we can turn around a town that contains seven of the top ten most deprived areas of the country, and ten in the top twenty, we can turn around the fortunes of the country.

Blackpool has enormous pride and potential. 

Despite the challenges captured in these statistics, people in our town won’t be defined by them. Our communities are strong, our young people are ambitious and our organisations drive change every day. This spirit of resilience and determination is the foundation on which renewal can be built. With the right support, investment and political will, that local energy can be harnessed to transform opportunity, improve lives and rewrite the story of our town.

The people of Blackpool are doing their bit and the Indices have done theirs – by showing us where the need is greatest. Now the government must do its bit too. Because with enough political will, Blackpool doesn’t have to be a poster child for deprivation. It can be the poster child for renewal. 

If this government can turn Blackpool around, it can turn the country around. And if Blackpool succeeds, Britain succeeds.

I was proud to hold an adjournment debate in Parliament last week on this topic – the last piece of Parliamentary business before Christmas recess. See my speech in full here.