EAST Lancashire MP Peter Pike has called on the Government to speed up the supply of cash for the area's Elevate Housing renewal programme - part of the Government's wider Pathfinder project to boost run-down areas.
Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Burnley, Rossendale and Pendle councils want up to £680million over 10 years to revamp decaying terraced and other housing and boost property values and living conditions in the area.
Mr Pike told Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in the Commons: "I am a little impatient, probably because of the scale of the problem in Burnley.
"Will you guarantee that the Labour Government is committed to working with councils to ensure the continuity of the programmes so that, ultimately, there is a solution to the problem in Burnley and other towns?"
Mr Prescott said: "I have, as you know, visited Burnley to see the problem. Our programme of investing so much money in such areas will make a difference. The Opposition's proposal of an £18 billion cut in public spending will mean a cut of £400 million in the housing programme."
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