Eight of the 10 most deprived neighbourhoods in England are in Blackpool, according to new statistics, the BBC has reported.
BBC News writes:
Seaside village Jaywick, in Essex, has been named the most deprived area overall for the third time in a row since 2010. Blackpool took the next eight slots while Middlesbrough had the largest share of the most deprived areas. Government officials ranked 32,844 neighbourhoods. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) looked at levels of income, employment, education, health and crime as well as housing services and living environment.
Jaywick in Essex, near Clacton-on-Sea, was previously found to be the most deprived in the last two reports in 2010 and 2015. The village, partly made up of a former holiday park, has been visited by the UN special rapporteur for extreme poverty during a fact-finding mission to the UK.
Among the top 10 individual neighbourhoods for deprivation, Blackpool had eight of them. They include people living on estates just behind its Promenade. Blackpool Pride of Place Partnership – made up of local businesses like Merlin Entertainment, which runs Blackpool Tower, the town’s council and other public bodies and voluntary groups – said it recognises ‘there are no quick fixes’ to the resort’s problems. Paul Smith from the group said: ‘We have set out a vision for Blackpool in 2030 that seeks to resolve the town’s housing problems, educational outcomes and health challenges with long-term sustainable change. While we welcome funding such as the recently announced Stronger Towns Fund or Future High Streets Fund, what Blackpool really needs is a long-term strategic relationship with central government to solve the unique problems that have led to deprivation on this scale.’
The tenth most deprived neighbourhood was Anfield in Liverpool. A number of London boroughs have seen decreases in the proportion of their neighbourhoods that are highly deprived, according to the government, particularly in Tower Hamlets and Westminster. The least deprived area of England is a neighbourhood nestled in the Chiltern Hills near Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Lancaster Gate in Westminster saw the biggest improvement in its ranking since the figures were last updated in 2015. It is now ranked 26,491 out of 32,844 neighbourhoods, compared with 12,101 four years ago.
Seven of the 10 neighbourhoods to have seen the biggest improvement were in London. Kingsway in Gloucester, the Whitehall Road area of Leeds and Liverpool city centre were also among the biggest improvers.
To Dan Casey, Jaywick is a beautiful coastline and a community of people he loves to talk to. Yet the 80-year-old, who sits as an independent on Tendring Council, is fed up that for the third time in a row his neighbourhood is ranked the most deprived in England…
… ‘We’ve still got a stunning coastline,’ Mr Casey said. ‘It’s something we have to offer that a lot of other places don’t. I was walking here recently, looking out and thinking it’s gorgeous. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I love my home and I love the people.’
