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Coastal Towns

The hon. Lady was also on the local authority in Wandsworth with me at that time, and I am sure that she learned many lessons from my hon. Friend about dynamism and how to regenerate socio-economically deprived areas. My hon. Friend was also absolutely right to say that the Minister should feel beleaguered, although I would go further and say that she should also feel embarrassed to come here and defend the Government response to the excellent Select Committee report. The hon. Members for Blackpool, South and for Cleethorpes (Shona McIsaac) also said, although in a very polite way, that the response was not acceptable and not up to scratch. Of course, they have to be careful, given their positions. Before I drill down into some of the details of the issues for Skegness, I should like to put it on the record that the town is very different from Bournemouth and Worthing, because it does not have economic diversification. It is very reliant on the UK tourist industry and is a very successful UK tourist resort. I would argue that it is the leading UK tourist destination. People go there—and to Cleethorpes—from the former coalfield areas of south Yorkshire and from many parts of the midlands, such as Mansfield, Nottingham and Worksop. Some 600,000 people visit Skegness in summer. In peak periods, there are 250,000 tourists in the town. The tourism sector is dynamic, full of energy and driven by an entrepreneurial flair that means that the private sector is prepared to put its money where its mouth is and invest in creating attractions that bring people back to Skegness, and other tourist resorts, year after year. Skegness’s tourism sector is also coupled with a hard-working public sector that understands the importance of co-operation and a link between the private and public sectors. I want to pull from the report several key points with which I agree—I shall rattle through them quickly. The report states that"““Government has neglected…coastal towns for too long.””" I agree. It also states that the"““Government does not sufficiently appreciate the needs of coastal towns.””" I agree. There needs to be cross-departmental liaison, which is currently ““disappointing””, and I shall return to that theme. There are problems, particularly those linked to deprivation, common to many coastal towns, and that is just as true of Skegness as it is of Blackpool and Cleethorpes. A high number of people in coastal towns claim sickness and disability benefits, and it is absolutely right to point that out. The response from the Government on that, read out earlier, was awful, and it raised a titter of laughter in the Chamber. I hope that the Minister will address that issue in her reply. We need a national-level requirement to promote English seaside resorts to visitors, and it is incumbent on the Government to try to find ways to address such resorts’ inherently low-wage and low-skill economies, the seasonal nature of employment and the importance of economic diversification. I will make some specific suggestions on that later. I want to put on the record some of the specific problems in and around Skegness. I want to cover the level of deprivation. Some 19.4 per cent. of the working-age population in the East Lindsey coastal area claim incapacity benefit. The area includes the constituency of the hon. Member for Cleethorpes—