The Centre for Social Justice
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Councillor Peter Halliday, Leader of Tendring District Council (TDC), said: ‘It is a fact that
Clacton has changed significantly over the years and, in keeping with many other seaside
towns, its economy has altered dramatically. Like other resorts we face a number of
difficult challenges with more people choosing to go abroad for their holidays. That said,
we still get more than one million visitors a year spending almost a million pounds a day
in the district. One of our biggest challenges is to find ways to encourage them to return
so that we can make the very most of that spending potential. That is still very much a
work in progress.’
The CSJ was told that one of the biggest social problems is that the town has a high number
of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). One official referred to it as ‘bedsit land’. The Essex
town is home to a large number of bed and breakfasts, many of which have been turned into
bedsits or other kinds of temporary accommodation. Another Pier B&B owner said: ‘Because
there aren’t as many tourists staying overnight many of us B&B owners have started letting
some of our rooms out to the council for emergency accommodation. It’s not what you want
to be known for, as it is hardly going to encourage business to your B&B, but you have to pay
the bills.’ A Government report said HMOs can have a negative social impact on areas and in
some cases lead to crime and anti-social behaviour.
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There is a forum of frontline organisations and individuals, Clacton Central Community
First, that comes together to discuss social problems and ways of countering them. One
forum member said: ‘One of the biggest problems is HMOs – overcrowding brings so many
problems to a society. Clacton simply doesn’t have the resources or things in place to help
people. Local people are doing their best to fight this, but it’s an uphill struggle and the
council and local authority only seem to be acknowledging this now.’ Concerns have been
expressed that HMOs can be detrimental to people’s health as well as the community. A
report by the University of Essex’s School of Health and Human Sciences recently looked at
the mental health of vulnerable people living in bedsits in seaside towns and found that the
living conditions can have a significant impact on people.
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Councillor Halliday said: ‘There is an HMO problem in Clacton, especially in the Pier ward
which is in the heart of the town centre. We are tackling this by introducing new licensing
regulations to ensure that properties must come up to a certain standard before they can
become HMO.’
Some officials in the town have said that there has been an increase of HMOs since the
Tendring Night Shelter was opened in the town around four years ago. The shelter aims to
provide support so clients can become independent. Residents, who are allowed to stay for
28 nights, are provided with support from Tendring Mental Health Support and local charities.
After clients of the shelter complete their stay, many move into HMOs and need continuing
support. The shelter has drawn in some people from other parts of Essex and further afield
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Department for Communities and Local Government,
Evidence Gathering – Housing in Multiple Occupation and possible planning
responses – Final Report
, London: Department for Communities and Local Government, September 2010, pp6-7
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Barratt C, Green G, Speed E, Price P,
Understanding the relationship between mental health and bedsits in a seaside town
, University of
Essex School of Health and Human Sciences and Tendring District Council, 2012 [accessed via:
bedsits_and_mental_health_report.pdf
(16/07/13)]
who have then remained in Clacton and continued to use local services. One former shelter
resident said: ‘The night shelter is a life saver. It offers great support, but obviously it means
there will be more people moving from different areas to Clacton so they can get help.’
Tracy Cooke, from Clacton, is the co-ordinator at the local Salvation Army Community
Centre, which runs a food bank service. She said: ‘The rise in food we hand out in recent
years has been incredible and is no longer sustainable so we are having to move to another
delivery model so we can cope with the demand. I have been here for seven years and in
the first two years we would have the occasional family coming in for food on referral. But
in the last four years we have seen a major increase. Our majority client base changed from
older people to males aged 25-45 who may be staying in bedsits or are couch surfing. In the
last year we gave out 2,500 food parcels, which I could never have expected.’
A frontline service provider said: ‘The picture of life in Clacton and where the town is going
is really frightening. What has happened here is indicative of many seaside towns, but much
more could be done. We would like to see more done with the Big Society Fund. Many
people lack the basics for getting into work or training, like something as obvious as a fixed
abode. More funding to social enterprises could improve the situation.’
The TDC has said that if it was given greater powers to deliver services, the local area would
benefit. Ian Davidson, Chief Executive of TDC, said: ‘Giving greater power and accountability
to the districts could help solve the problems in our local areas. We are on the ground and we
have the local knowledge and an understanding of the local agencies. If it’s done at a local level
you can actually switch money to being less reactive and more proactive. We recently ran a
‘families with complex needs’ pilot and it worked very well because we could co-ordinate
it better with the local agencies. We would like to see this delivery model used more in the
future – it is better for the taxpayer, the community and people we want to help.’
The local authority has agreed the town ‘is not fulfilling its potential’ and that it ‘lacks a
distinctive quality tourism/visitor offer’.
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As well as improving current facilities, the council has
said it needs to develop new ones. It has been reported in local media that a £30 million
development may be outlined soon.
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While fresh investment in the Pier area will be widely welcomed, it is becoming clear that
seaside towns, like Clacton, can no longer afford to rely solely on tourism and will need to
build a more stable economy.
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Tendring District Council and INTend,
Celebrate-on-Sea, Putting the fun back into Clacton!
gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/business/regeneration/clacton/Celebrate%20on%20sea%20reduced%20file%20size.pdf (29/07/13)]
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This is Total Essex,
Cause for optimism in Essex ‘benefit ghetto’ says council
Cause-optimism-Essex-benefit-ghetto-says-council/story-19068629-detail/story.html#axzz2ZmR4gTSD (22/07/13)]
Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
. Re-TWEET my Twitterings
PDF, 112 pages, 1.23 MB) 
Bill Etheridge
Top cop candidate under fire over “sick” Facebook banter about Jimmy Savile
Ben Howlett @benhowlettcf 
Jasna Badzak @JasnaBadzak
CARPETED … controversial South Tyneside councillor David Potts.
Ukip-vs-EUkip 
4 Comments
You didn’t contact this office. Not that we would have commented. But don’t make it up
No one is making anything up. I called the UKIP press twice, and both times they said they didn’t want to comment.
When I called Gerard Batten’s office I didn’t even get an answer.
Hmmm, given that every human being on the planet has racist thoughts, can someone please tell me what is to be gained by policing human nature?
LEft-wingers……they never learn.
I don’t think Jasna is complaining about “racist thoughts” Lawrence. The accusation seems to be of a racist agenda that would marginalise non-whites and non-British. I hope that’s not something you’re trying to defend!
While we might all have racist thoughts, just as we all have have horrible thoughts of purge types (e.g. Hate and violence) to allow these horrible thoughts to set an agenda is completely unacceptable. No one’s talking about “policing thoughts”, we’re talking about actions that discriminate and marginalise people simply because of their race or background.