CAROLINE ANSELL MP: Some good news to report in Eastbourne

Firstly, the government has announced an extra £3.5 billion to help leaseholders in flats who have been hit with huge bills to replace dangerous ACM cladding identified following the 2017 Grenfell tragedy.

I have campaigned for leaseholders to not foot astronomical bills – between £50,000 and £90,000 per flat in some instances and the government has listened and released this money for buildings over 18 metres. This is very good news for a number of developments in Eastbourne and I thank the housing minister Robert Jenrick for listening to me and others on this important issue of fairness.

Post Grenfell, other fire safety defects have also been identified in local properties such as with wooden balconies, missing fire breaks or unsafe insulation. There are still some questions on how these are to be funded, not least in pursuing developers, and I will continue to champion local residents on this.

Secondly, the government has stepped in to help alleviate Eastbourne Borough Council’s serious financial problems. It has said the authority can borrow the money to plug an estimated £12.8 million hole in its budget but it will need to sell assets to repay the loan.

I committed to support their case and lobbied ministers for this help because I did not want to see the council effectively go bankrupt. I am pleased the government has facilitated this action as it will protect all residents across the town. Covid 19 has hit us hard, that is undeniable but the council’s reserves were weak going into the pandemic.

Thirdly, the issue of Brighton and Hove Council housing its homeless people in Eastbourne is continuing to cause real concern. I raised the matter in Parliament this week and told the Prime Minister that Brighton is not engaging with Eastbourne Borough Council in any meaningful way, and a further 51 placements have been made in recent weeks. Three people from Brighton have died in Eastbourne.

Brighton needs to work with Eastbourne as a matter of urgency and I hope this will now happen.

And finally, the vaccination programme continues to go from strength to strength. 1,000 vaccines a minute was the pace hit last Saturday across the country and as I write, one of our major local sites is preparing to reach a significant milestone too.

There has been talk of new variants and concerns about how effective vaccines will be but a new government partnership with CureVac means we stand ready to marshal our considerable expertise in genome and virus sequencing to meet that challenge too. Please step forward with confidence for the jab, it is an important key to unlocking our freedom. A huge thank you to all who are involved this epic rollout.

Take care and keep in touch.