Breathing Space Scheme

Kate Hollern Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2017 Westminster Hall

[Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner.

I, too, thank the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood (Kelly Tolhurst) for securing this important debate on a serious issue. I can see the devastating effects of debt simply from my constituency casework. Blackburn, unfortunately, has more than 5,000 children living in families with debt problems. I have seen cases where a relatively small debt of a couple of hundred pounds has escalated to well over £1,000 in a very short time through court costs and bailiff costs, and I have seen sad cases where people have actually lost their homes.

Although I welcome the options that have been put forward and hope the Minister will support them, I am concerned that they do not go far enough. A wider approach is required. The proposals are a good starting point, but there needs to be a recognition that, in the last few years, the price of food has escalated and council tax precepts for police and adult social care have added to the burden for very poor families. In addition to implementing the scheme and providing respite for families suffering from debt problems, the Government must do more to offer security for people, both in and out of work, who suffer from poverty. Families on low incomes need far more certainty. Current policies attack low-income families and just add to their huge burden.

As I said, I agree wholeheartedly with the proposals, and I share the concerns of the Children’s Society about the long-term effects of growing up with problem debt. My hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) mentioned young people’s mental health. Debt stigmatises and isolates families and can reduce young people’s chances of developing into confident human beings who can contribute. It is devastating. I have worked with many families whose children’s confidence has gone because the family has ended up in debt—often, as several hon. Members said, through no fault of their own. If someone suddenly loses their job or is taken ill—there are terrible diseases that can render people totally unable to work—a happy family that has had a secure life for 10 years can suddenly be faced with the devastating need to deal not only with the illness that has hit the family but with the impact of losing their income. Often, those families just do not know where to turn. It is important they have support and breathing space to help them try to get their lives back on track.

We must also recognise the high level of insolvency, particularly among small businesses, which can leave people with debt from money that they invested in their business. People can suddenly be left with no business but a huge debt.

I back the scheme but, as I said, I do not believe it goes far enough. I welcome it as a starting point, but I would like some reassurance from the Minister that he will consider the wider impact of political decisions on low-income families, particularly in places such as Blackburn.

Tax Credits (Working Families)

Kate Hollern Excerpts

Tuesday 7th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Kate Hollern (Blackburn) (Lab)]

Let me begin, Mr Deputy Speaker, by thanking you and the House for the honour you do me by listening to my maiden speech today.

As MP for Blackburn, I follow in the footsteps of illustrious predecessors. After the war, a formidable woman, Barbara Castle, represented my constituency until 1979. When Barbara Castle made her maiden speech 70 years ago, she made a promise that in her career in this House she would be the “pineapple of politeness”, an aspiration I will seek to emulate—but with no guarantees.

Barbara was known as a fighter. She fought for fairness and equality, and she was unquestionably the most successful female politician of her generation. Barbara was somebody with immense personal and political courage. She was able to inspire others and is still remembered very fondly in Blackburn today. She campaigned tirelessly to secure pensions and benefits, particularly child benefits. She would rightly be appalled and angry at this Government’s welfare reforms. She would be outraged at the glib statements Ministers make when speaking about poverty and deprivation.

My immediate predecessor, Jack Straw, will be familiar to this House, where his parliamentary career included holding, with distinction, a number of high offices, including Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Lord Chancellor and Leader of the House. But in Blackburn we remember a very different Jack; we remember an extremely hard-working Member of Parliament who served our town for over 36 years. Whether it was when on his soapbox—again, I cannot guarantee to copy that; stiletto heels will go through the box—or in his walk-in surgeries, he always made time for his constituents.

I am therefore really pleased that, despite standing down as MP, Jack’s connections with Blackburn are due to continue. He is to become chair of the fantastic Youth Zone, an initiative that was led by local business. It is a great example of collaboration between the private, voluntary and public sectors. It gives young people tremendous facilities to develop as individuals and engage in positive activities right next to the new Cathedral Quarter. Jack will also continue to be a governor at Blackburn’s University Centre, another facility that is testament to his energy and commitment to bring the best to Blackburn. I am under no illusion that Jack will be a hard act to follow.

To represent Blackburn, you need to know, understand and love the town. I moved there in 1977 from the west coast of Scotland, working in a shoe factory, where, I am proud to say, I worked full-time and received family tax credits. I am also proud to say that my two daughters have always worked and, fortunately, have never been in a position where they have had to claim tax credits. In Blackburn, I learned from the best; the people were warm, welcoming and hard-working, and their passion for the place is infectious. We have a rich and diverse community who are only too pleased to play their part in improving the town, as was vividly demonstrated when thousands of volunteers came out to spring-clean the town to honour Her Majesty the Queen’s visit on Maundy Thursday last year.

We have a number of initiatives that bring people together: the Your Call campaign, where residents take responsibility for their own area; the 100 Voices initiative, which brings together people from right across the town to discuss issues; and Just Good Friends, which gets older people out to reminisce, have a dance and help tackle social isolation. The diverse communities of Blackburn are strong, and I am immensely proud they have chosen me to represent them in this place. In Blackburn, there is a strong partnership between residents, the council and local businesses. For example, the local college and the council have just, in partnership, built a new state-of-the-art leisure centre. The private sector has committed to having apprentices from more disadvantaged groups and to fund the youth facilities.

I served as a councillor for 20 years, many of which as leader of the council, and I have seen Blackburn go through good and bad times. In every case, the people of Blackburn pulled together. To know Blackburn and to understand where it is going, we have to understand its history. Blackburn was one of the key mill towns that were the driving force behind the industrial revolution. By the end of the 1840s, there were 75 cotton mills. By 1860, that number had more than doubled.

One hundred years earlier, the cotton industry was revolutionised by the invention of the spinning jenny. James Hargreaves patented his invention—[Interruption.] Blackburn led the northern powerhouse more than 100 years ago, and I am sure that it will continue to do so.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Thank you.

[Kate Hollern]

One last bit?

[Mr Deputy Speaker]

As much as I would love to let you carry on—you are my neighbour—I dare not. Chris Philp.