Councillors in fierce debate about town centre beggars in Blackpool
A Blackpool councillor’s comments about begging and homelessness in Blackpool provoked a fierce debate in a public council meeting.
Reform Cllr Gerard Walsh called into question how the town was dealing with the issue after he related what he had seen as he made his way to Wednesday’s Full Council meeting.
The Squires Gate councillor, who has recently left from the Conservatives to join Reform UK, was then accused of being oblivious to the wide-ranging work being done in Blackpool to tackle the issues and its causes.
Cllr Walsh was responding to a report on town centre begging and anti-social behaviour.
He said:” I was reading the report and it’s great to see there’ action taking place with the multi-agency response, we’ve had this for years.
“But on my way to the chamber tonight there are people lying all over the street outside Marks and Spencer, people screaming.
“What are we doing to help these people and to deal with it? You could say, well it’s a country-wide problem.
“When I’ve dealt with people and spoken to them directly it seems to me that if you’ve got capacity you will not be helped. Well I can name three individuals out there now. They haven’t washed their clothes, they smell terrible of urine unfortunately, they’ve got matted hair.
“How can anybody tell me these people, living like that and the way they are, have capacity?
“So what I want to know is, what are we doing as an authority to actually tackle on street begging?
“Because there seems to be a new cohort of people coming to Blackpool.”
Cllr Walsh said part of the problem was that certain guesthouses and hotels were filling up with “permanent people” who were living in small rooms.
He said: “We are attracting £15-a-night society’s ills from all over the country. We need to do something about it. So what are we doing to tackle in-street begging?.”
Cllr Michele Scott, the Conservative member for Warbreck, said: “I beg to differ, Cllr Walsh. I’m frequently in the town centre, encountering aggressive beggars. Not everyone who chooses to live like that doesn’t have capacity. It’s completely different thing.
“I’ve always received a prompt and effective response from our officers whenever I’ve put in a complaint about aggressive begging and people who have approached me.”
Cllr Jo Farrell, Cabinet Member for Communities and Wellbeing said: “I just want to make a comment about us leaving people on the streets, unwashed.
“We’ve got outreach people going out every single day and you know that , Cllr Walsh . We have got Housing Options going out every single morning, the Lived Experience team every morning. The Bridge Project offering a cool space because of the hot weather, they are feeding people.
“We are supporting people every single day.”
When Cllr Walsh sought to take issue again, with a point about council officers, he was challenged by both Labour members Cllr Jane Hugo and Cllr Alistair Humphreys.
Blackpool Council’s Reform leader Cllr Jim O’ Neill then defended him and said: ”It seems people are quite united against Cllr Walsh. He’s talking about what he’s seen with his own eyes and everyone of you want to have a go because you don’t like to hear what he’s saying. He’s not lying.,”
But Cllr Dave Flanagan, the Housing member who wrote the report, said: “I do find some of your comments offensive, Cllr Walsh, you’re talking about some of our most vulnerable people in Blackpool.
“You’ve asked what we’re doing, here’s the answer, because you’ve clearly not read the report.
“We’ve set up a multi-agency operation, including a Community Safety Team, the Town Centre Neighbourhood Policing team, Homeless Outreach, Housing Options and Blackpool Improvement District all involved .
“We’re not simply applying enforcement, we’re taking a public health approach, connecting them to the right services before problems escalate.”
He said the council was also looking to be be given Purple Flag accreditation, an internationally recognised accreditation programme that assesses and rewards town and city centres for providing a safe, vibrant, and well-managed evening and night-time economy.