Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's visit to Pendle

As part of his pre-election tour, the PM was welcomed to Colne’s Hippodrome where he took questions from members of the press.

Following a quick show around the venue, Mr Sunak was grilled on what the Tory government, if elected once more, would bring to the table for constituents of Pendle and others living in East Lancashire.

The PM talks to Pendle's leaders and community at the Hippodrome (Image: Conservative Party)

Asked about energy efficiency and support for those living in poorly insulated homes across the county, Mr Sunak said: “To try and improve energy efficiency in their homes is absolutely the right thing to do.

“We are spending about £6bn over this parliament to improve the energy efficiency of hundreds and hundreds of thousands of homes.

“That’s happening in lots of different ways – you can get a £5,000 grant if you’re replacing your boiler with a heat pump all the way through to the schemes we do for social housing.

“Grants for social housing which will help improve the energy efficiency, up to £10,000.”

MP for Pendle, Andrew Stephenson, who accompanied Mr Sunak on his visit, said that Together Housing had just been awarded money for projects in Nelson and Colne to help decarbonise thousands of homes in the Pendle constituency.

Mr Sunak also spoke about Awab’s Law, a new piece of legislation being passed through Parliament to ensure landlords are providing liveable accommodation which isn’t damp or mouldy.

It comes in the wake of the death of Awab Ishak in Rochadale who died from living in an uninhabitable damp property, and will provide more regulations for social housing tenants, with homes able to apply for government grants.

The PM with MP for Pendle Andrew Stephenson (Image: Conservative Party)

The PM was then asked about the latest scandal involving MP for Blackpool, Scott Benton, who had been caught lobbying politicians in exchange for money.

Mr Sunak said first and foremost MPs should be representing their constituents, and helping to secure money from funds such as the Levelling Up fund.

He said: “We need to make sure the rules support that. Those rules were tightened up last year and it’s important those rules are followed.”

When questioned about child poverty rates in Pendle, the PM was asked whether local councils should have more devolved powers so they can control how much is being spent on things like nurseries to help level-up the area.

He said: “I want to make sure children are not growing up in poverty.

“And we want to do everything we can to prevent that from happening and I’m really pleased that since 2010 the number of children growing up in poverty has fallen.

“The most impactful way we can stop that from happening is to make sure their parents are working.

“The evidence is really clear that if children are growing up in a workless household they are five times more likely to be growing up in poverty.

“We are raising the national living wage to record levels, that’s going to really help ensure those children are growing up in the circumstances that we would all want to see.

“And in the short term for those who are struggling and need a bit of extra help, all councils have been given extra money to help those vulnerable families, called the Household Support Fund, and that’s devolved to councils.”

He also said that the government had announced more money for childcare providers and also more free childcare hours, which would start from nine months old, but it was a massive reform that wouldn’t happen overnight.

Mr Sunak was then asked about transport in East Lancashire, and an issue which has been on the agenda for years – the Colne to Skipton rail link, and whether he could commit to opening the line.

He said: “Andrew Stephenson has been talking about this for a long time, and what I can tell you is we are investing record sums in rail in particularly across the north, and we have the Restoring Your Railways fund which can help re-open lines that may have been closed in the past, and that is already making a difference around the country.

“The funding is there for things like this.”

Taking a slightly different turn, Mr Sunak was grilled about the current anger across the country in relation to some killers choosing not to face their sentence in court, after the man who killed Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Liverpool refused to attend his sentence hearing.

The PM said he agreed the law needed to change, and said the cowardly people who are not facing up to their actions, should be brought to court.

Following his trip to Colne, Mr Sunak made his way to Burnley where it is believed he would be canvassing on behalf of the Conservative party.