Our Blackpool, Your Voice - Monday 7 January 2013
Some background about the event:
An event was held for all Commissioners, Steering Panel members, Blackpool organisations and
residents on Monday 7 January 2013, at Palatine School.
The format of the event was a series of questions, posed by residents and answered by the panel. It was
an opportunity to air views and ask questions surrounding the future of Blackpool and issues concerning
the town as a whole.
The below account is a report of the questions and responses. If you have any questions, please contact
fairness@blackpool.gov.uk
List of Panel Members at the event:
Cllr Simon Blackburn, Leader of Blackpool Council
Superintendant Stuart Noble, Blackpool Police
Neil Jack, Chief Executive of Blackpool Council
Nick Gradwell, Equality Representative
Alan Reid, Equality Representative
Judith Mills, Public Health
Claire Smith, Private Sector Representative
Ashok Khandelwal, Voluntary Sector Representative
Angela Winter, Clinical Commissioning Group
Question 1: I believe the drunk and disorderly behaviour on our streets puts off people from
holidaying in Blackpool. In the view of the panel, what works to improve the impact of alcohol abuse,
and what more could we be doing to bring the problem under control? Maybe creating an adult zone?
Stuart Noble – The police will use a range of tactics to deal with the alcohol issues including
enforcement, high visibility patrolling, arrests, and early interventions- ordering people to leave the
town centre that will potentially cause a problem. We work with the night time economy to prevent
alcohol related problems. Education needs to play a part and people need to be educated in relation to
the health impacts of alcohol and an awareness of how alcohol impacts on behaviour.
Judith Mills– We are competing against a multi million pound industry that uses high cost advertising
campaigns to encourage drinking – recent research showed that 10 year olds were more aware of an
alcohol product than a cereal product due to an advertising campaign!
Minimum price for alcohol ‘units’ will be of benefit if / when the legislation is introduced by national
government after the current consultation process.
Claire Smith – We need to reduce the opening hours – we are not continental Europe! My guests will
drink cheap booze till half eleven at night and only then go out to the pubs and clubs, subsequently
getting in at 5 or 6am. Reducing the opening hours will be better for everyone – families, taxis, bars,
police, and ambulances. People only have so much money to spend so allow them to spend it earlier and
during better hours for the town.
Cllr Simon Blackburn – The hours should change. The longer opening hour haven’t worked in Blackpool.
Angela Winter – Older people are at risk from increased alcohol intake.
Cllr Simon Blackburn – Early morning restriction orders (ESMO’s) will allow us to draw a line under the
opening hours from April 2013. It will allow us to limit opening hours in certain areas and impact on
licences. It changes the onus from having to allow licences to being able to refuse licences.
Neil Jack– We must remember alcohol is as much a society problem as a problem for the town. There
are issues throughout Northern Europe in relation to alcohol – including availability, underage drinking
and marketing. People with ‘no hope’ drink more than those who need to get up to go to work!
From the floor –
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We need more alcohol recovery places or abstinence cafes. We should shy away from
zones for the towns - an adult zone would segregate. We need to provide alternatives
and integration.
Mixing alcohol and drugs makes the problems worse. We need better referral pathways
into treatment.
Alcohol problems don’t just affect young people. We need to educate young people.
Youth service can do that and needs investment not to be cut.
Question 2: With more children and young people in Blackpool experiencing mental health problems,
what does the panel think should be done to support them?
Judith Mills – emotional health and wellbeing is improving in the town. There is increasing work
happening in schools to enable easier access for young people who need support. However as a town
we do need to look at ways that we can improve the resilience of our young people. Resilience allows
people to cope / deal better with problems and challenges they face. Limited resilience will result in
higher levels of mental health issues.
Ashok Khandelwal – Need to help and support people to take responsibility for themselves. They need
good role models.
Nick Gradwell – Health and social care structures are changing – they need to remember that
‘meaningful’ involvement will be of most benefit when redesigning services i.e. the people who use the
services should be involved in helping to give ideas and expertise and knowledge about the changes that
would be of most benefit.
Angela Winter – We need more engagement from young people and give them opportunities to tell
their side of the story BUT we must then listen to that and not just pay lip service.
Cllr Simon Blackburn – poverty and lack of hope is a cause of our high levels of mental health issues. We
can beat the symptoms but we also need to beat the causes.
From the floor
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Youth workers have a voluntary relationship with young people which are different to
teachers. We can educate by stealth. Self harm is growing in the town. Suicide is the
biggest killer of under 35s. I believe youth work needs more recognition.
Don’t forget primary schools. Mental health issues in primary schools is also on the
increase.
Judith Mills - emotional health and wellbeing is as important from pre natal time, through early years
and into primary then secondary school.
Ashok Khandelwal – let’s look at causes not just symptoms. Societal change is needed in Blackpool.
Question 3: Could the panellists tell us what they are doing to raise aspirations for people living in
Blackpool?
Cllr Simon Blackburn – Starting early and equipping residents with the skills to help them and the town.
We need to be creative to access people who don’t come to meetings like this. In this room tonight ‘we’
think we have the solutions but the majority of the town aren’t here! We need to make more people
part of our civil society, more engaged in their local community. It’s about inclusivity.
But the economic development in the town over the last 30 years has been skewed in the wrong
direction. We need to support small / medium sized businesses and start up businesses rather than the
golden bullet of Nissan factory with 10,000 jobs or Eurodisney etc. So that is what our economic
development team are now working on. That will help to raise aspirations.
Claire Smith – how do we engage the disengaged?
Neil Jack – We need to hold people in the town. Young people see poorly paid jobs – that is no
incentive. Those who go to university don’t come back – we need to change that! We are supporting
more creative jobs and opportunities, more arts related chances, we want to grow our ‘arts’ community.
We need to surround our young people with good opportunities. We need to work closely with other
areas of Fylde Coast – Enterprise zone in Warton, Chemical / plastics industry at Cleveleys etc.
From the floor What about young people with a disability?
Cllr Simon Blackburn – this is an area of high importance for the Council. We have recently given a pot
of money to parents so they can decide how it is spent for their disabled children – not councillors! We
have an increasing apprenticeship scheme across the town and will take on 20 people with disabilities
over the next year. We are building whole life houses to help with our infrastructure.
Neil Jack– we are putting training programmes in place but we need to get better at providing jobs at
the end of them.
We have high numbers of young people in care with no aspirations - what is the panel doing about
that?
Cllr Simon Blackburn – we have nearly 500 young people in care - that is one of the highest figures in
the country. This is too many and we keep them in care for too long. We have good foster carers and
great children’s homes but we need to get young people through the system quicker when they are
ready – we have increased the legal team to deal with the court processes. We need to safely reduce
the numbers of young people who are in care. We are going to increase the number of foster carers and
train them to create better outcomes for the young people in care.
Claire Smith – from employer’s perspective we need young people who are ready for work. Work
experience is no longer compulsory. 2 weeks of work experience gets a young person aware of what is
needed to get to and maintain a job. Voluntary work helps with CVs. We need to do more to support
young people.
From the floor: How can the Commission help young people when youth work is getting cut in the
town?
Cllr Simon Blackburn – young people need to take the decisions re youth work in the future not middle
aged men in suits.
Question 4: What does the panel think can be done to get more people involved in local decision
making?
Cllr Simon Blackburn – This very commission is a great replacement for the old Local Strategic
Partnership (LSP). It is much more representative of the town. Area forums are now chaired by the
community and not councillors. Young people are more represented on the area forums and also this
commission. We have kept the budgets for the area forums even in these times of austerity. However
we do need to engage more people in the democratic process.
From the floor: What is different about us being here tonight? What will change as a result of us being
here?
Superintendant Stuart Noble – there is a commitment for us to be here. However you are right it will be
results and actions that matter. I am confident that next time we meet we will have some results and
actions to be able to share with you.
Nick Gradwell – I appreciate this is a talking shop but they can be useful as well. As the town changes
we can use this as a channel for our views and ideas to be heard. It is our chance for us to have our say.
Cllr Simon Blackburn – I don’t just want the ‘expert’ views. I want a range of people to have a say on
different topics. We need a range of views and quite often people from a different background can give
a different perspective on the challenge or problem or issue facing us.
Neil Jack – we need to listen. Consultation in the past has been to tick boxes and meet our statutory
responsibilities and legal duties. But it hasn’t been true consultation. Engagement needs to be ‘us’
actually listening and that way we can do it properly. However we do need to be imaginative as to how
we can allow people to be engaged. This is not just about the council but is about the town.
Post meeting note: A question was also raised about the links between area forums and the Fairness
Commission, and followed after the event. The question will be raised at the Steering Panel meeting on
7th February for further discussion.
Question 5: With continuing cuts being felt across the public sector, what do the panel think needs to
be done to ensure that Blackpool remains somewhere we want to live and work and others want to
visit?
Superintendant Stuart Noble – The cuts are right across the public sector and that will mean we need to
work closely together. As services contract and reduce, we need to minimise the impact by aligning
services and working in true partnerships – not just public sector but with the civic sector and business
sector as well as communities and residents.
Neil Jack – The employment is this town is currently made up of one third public sector, one third
tourism and the final third all the rest. Therefore the stringent public sector cuts will impact on that
percentage and directly affect employment. We need to be imaginative and flexible as to how we
manage budgets and services. We need to talk across services. Joint commissioning will be a key going
forward. An example of good practice is the South Beach pilot. We cannot pepperpot the money around
but need to focus it in the right ways in the right areas.
Claire Smith– we all have to take responsibility. Not just rely on others. If there is litter outside my hotel
or home why should I wait for someone else to pick it up? We shouldn’t just blame others or the
government or the council or the police. We should take our share of responsibility and do things for
ourselves and the good of the town.
Question 6: A question has also been submitted from the South Beach Business Forum. The questions
run to three pages and we couldn’t begin to answer them all tonight but would like to raise some of
the key points. I do understand that colleagues from Blackpool Council have offered to meet with the
Business Forum next month to look at the questions in more detail but in summary:
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Concern has been raised why the South Beach area is in the top 1% of indices of deprivation
despite the investment?
Question has been raised as to where the regeneration money been spent in the area?
Some more detailed questioning regarding the Enterprise Centre as to how many start-up
businesses or route-to-employment schemes have been developed and what are business
survival rates?
Question also raised around some of the larger regeneration projects in the town and whether
any impact surveys have been carried out to determine the effects on the visitor economy
This question was shortened due to time constraints – What has happened to investment money in
South Shore / Beach area?
Cllr Simon Blackburn - Money hasn’t been spent well in the past but we are now supporting true
investment in the area. Selective licensing to address the poor housing will impact on poor behaviour of
individuals in that area. Selective licensing is the single biggest policy that will help and impact in
Blackpool in the next generation. The enterprise centre will be re-focused to meet the needs of
businesses and community in that area.
Neil Jack – I think the Enterprise Centre hasn’t really lived up to it’s purpose, and we’re going to have a
look at that.
Nick Gradwell – Let’s use our greatest resource – the beach – to improve health and wellbeing.
Question 7: Do the panel think that £700,000 is a worthwhile investment to provide every primary
school child in Blackpool with a free breakfast? What is the thinking behind the project, and how will
its success be measured?
Cllr Simon Blackburn – let’s get this right the full cost for the programme is actually £2.1million. The
£700k is the cost of the pilot scheme that will have a full evaluation completed. Research has proven
that children will increase attendance; they will start lessons not being hungry and will be able to
concentrate on the subjects. Behaviour will improve. Attendance will be measured on a weekly basis.
Attainment will be measured at each term. Teachers will be asked from a qualitative level – has
behaviour improved?
One third of children in our town have for the last 50 years gone without food in the morning. I will not
be part of a continuing culture that doesn’t support our young people. This pilot has been specifically
intended to ensure there is no benefit culture, that there is no way to stereotype or discriminate against
any children from poor or deprived backgrounds. The breakfast will allow young people to talk for 15
mins at the start of a day whilst eating and again this has been proven that when lessons do actually
start the pupils are then able to learn straight away instead of wanting to talk about Xbox, last night’s tv
etc. The pilot is in primary schools.
Neil Jack – each school will be given the flexibility within the pilot to make the scheme fit what is best
for them we are not expecting a one size fits all programme.
Superintendant Stuart Noble then closed the session thanked everyone for their attendance and wished
everyone a safe journey home.
A couple of additional questions were handed in on the day – These will be discussed at the next
Steering Panel Meeting on the 7th February and answers will be included within the minutes of that
meeting, which will then be circulated and uploaded onto the website.