St Ives election candidates on housing and crime

Here we ask the candidates standing in the General Election on December 12 in the St Ives constituency, which includes Helston, for their views. The Liberal and Common People candidates were invited to take part but we have received no response.

Housing and homelessness

Alana Bates, Labour

Labour will build one million new genuinely affordable homes over 10 years, and ensure every council every year builds or commissions Labour’s new affordable homes.

We will also define ‘affordable housing’ as linked to local income, not market rates, suspend the right to buy, back councils and housing associations with new funding and powers, transform the planning system with a new duty to deliver affordable homes, and end the loophole that lets developers dodge their contribution to more affordable homes.

I have been a campaigner for local housing as it is such a big issue for us here in Cornwall. Labour will double council tax on second homes and use the money to end rough sleeping in five years. It would be amazing for our part of Cornwall to see councils building social homes again, as low wages means that only council housing is truly affordable for many. I would like to close the tax loophole on holiday lets, so that they pay either business rates or council tax.

Ian Flindall – Green

Much of the £100 bn spend per year that we would spend tackling climate change would be dedicated to building many new energy-efficient homes and refurbishing existing homes.

Much can be done to improve the performance of our Cornish granite houses, to replace fossil-fuelled systems and to make them more affordable to run. Some of the new build will be retained in local authority hands to enable the provision of homes at an affordable rent.

Such a boost to the construction and refurbishment industry will generate worthwhile jobs particularly in the specialist field of traditional building skills, lime pointing, skantle roofing, masonry, etc.

More houses and more comfortable cheaper-to-run houses will go some way to making homes accessible to our young and homeless people.

However, we cannot ignore the fact that our beautiful Cornish countryside, towns and villages are a magnet to second homers and retirees who play a valuable part in the local economy but whose purchasing power is driving house prices skywards. A balance must be struck between everyone’s right to a home and the right to buy anywhere in the UK. A burgeoning green local economy will improve the buying power of local people.

Andrew George – Liberal Democrat

We’re all aware of the need for more and better housing in west Cornwall. Andrew has worked tirelessly with a local charitable trust to create more affordable homes in the area.

Andrew has been a regular volunteer for Penzance Street Food Project in recent years. He knows how easy it is for people to fall beneath the safety net and end up homeless. 

It is as stark as this: local people are on the streets, while second home and holiday home owners enjoy the Conservatives’ tax loopholes.

These loopholes amount to around £100 million in lost taxes in Cornwall: imagine what we could do with that money. While the other parties have finally agreed that the situation is unacceptable, only the Liberal Democrats have come up with schemes to limit second homes and to reverse the incentives which work against those in the greatest need.

Housing should be decent as well as affordable. Too many Cornish children are growing up in unacceptable conditions. Local Conservatives voted against the Fitness for Human Habitation Bill. All Liberal Democrat MPs supported it. 

The planning and development system is fuelled by greed rather than by need. However, Andrew is confident that the current situation can be reversed; and he’ll campaign for more affordable, quality homes in west Cornwall.

Derek Thomas – Conservative

For as long as people struggle to get a home that they can afford, I’ll continue to press planners and developers to provide quality homes.

We need to be much more ambitious about the way we provide new homes and I have long argued that future development should be focused on using existing brownfield sites and being more imaginative about the use of existing building space.

For example, much more could be done to bring back redundant homes into use and there is also a huge, untapped stock of empty accommodation above the retail outlets in our high streets which could be used to provide extra housing as well as re-invigorating our town centres.

I have long championed the rent-to-buy model of affordable housing which has proved very successful in other areas. Many families are blocked from buying a home (due to affordability models) despite the fact that their monthly rent is more than a mortgage repayment would be. Rent-to-buy provides secure homes for families in this predicament. 

I am privileged to be involved in the ROC initiative (Redeeming Our Communities), launched in Penzance, which has proven to build strong communities elsewhere including reducing homelessness.

Crime and policing

Alana Bates – Labour

No-one should have to live their life in fear of crime. Labour is tough on crime and will ensure that the people keeping our communities safe – our police force, fire service and criminal justice workers – have the resources they need. It has been Labour’s policy for a long time to put 20,000 police back on the street. Most towns no longer have a functioning police station. The police service is a public service, and as such Labour will invest in it. We will also ensure there is appropriate support for victims of crime.

Ian Flindall – Green

Crime is strongly linked to poverty and other forms of social deprivation. The Green Party would prioritise tackling these entrenched social issues so that the incentive for crime is reduced. This means ensuring that communities get the support they need, in the form of a universal basic income, a full range of vital services, better community support – including fully-funded youth provision – and real employment opportunities that pay a living wage.

We need more police officers to cope with the current situation. You cannot cut police numbers and not expect crime not to rise. Such acts of vandalism simply demotivate the workforce at a time when cybercrime, drug peddling and knife crime are on the increase. We want police to be more integrated with local communities and would strengthen democratic accountability. This involves much more than just electing police commissioners; it means regular contexts where police and community members can meet to ensure that policing is both fair and representative of the communities it serves. Without the consent of local communities, policing quickly becomes “us-and-them” and can even exacerbate social problems.

The Green Party will not put at risk the collaboration with Europe, through Europol, tackling cybercrime and terrorism.

Andrew George – Liberal Democrat

Overstretched police forces, failing to rehabilitate offenders and cuts to youth services: no wonder the country has seen a rise in robberies and violent crimes.

Home Office cuts have resulted in 7,500 frontline officers and 2,800 community support officers being laid off since 2015 – can we honestly be surprised that crime has increased?

The Liberal Democrats will invest £1 billion in community policing – that’s two more officers for each ward. Andrew’s party is responding to the call for traditional community policing, where officers are visible, accessible and known.

The Conservatives have cut 40% from councils’ youth services budgets. Investing in social and youth services will help to prevent the growth of gang culture, violence and petty crime.

The prison system isn’t working. The Liberal Democrats will introduce 2,000 more prison officers, while overhauling non-custodial punishments. Custodial sentences should be for public protection, and there needs to be facility for dangerous criminals to be held until they pose no threat.

Current attempts at rehabilitation are failing: 48% of adults leaving prison are convicted of committing at least one new offence within a year. By offering employable skills and alternatives for the future, we can break the cycle of crime and reoffending.

Derek Thomas – Conservative

I welcome Boris Johnson’s recent announcement of 20,000 new police officers over the next three years to strengthen law and order.

I will work to ensure we get our fair share in west Cornwall and that, when they are needed, they are able to respond quickly and effectively.

Confidence in our police has been eroded by the cut in numbers and I recognise that we need to put this right – officers put their lives on the line each day to protect the public and they should be recognised for this service.

That is why I signed a letter to Boris Johnson urging him to commit to a police covenant, giving police officers a guarantee in law that Government recognises the risks they take and ensure they are looked after both in and out of the job – in the same way as Armed Forces personnel are.

I recently sent out a survey to households across west Cornwall and Scilly and one of the sections asked people how they felt police resources should best be deployed – I am collating these responses and if, for example, the top priority is to re-open the front desks of police stations, that is what I will argue should happen.