A newly elected MP has laid bare the challenges its constituency faces in his maiden speech in the House of Commons. Peter Lamb, Labour MP for Crawley, expressed concerns over the number of children living in poverty in his constituency during a speech at the Building Safety and Resilience debate on Wednesday. Crawley is one of the most deprived areas in Sussex.
One neighbourhood in the town, Broadfield South, falls within the 10% most deprived areas in England, the latest data, from 2019, shows. A total of four neighbourhoods also scored in the top 20% most deprived nationally. Mr Lamb told the House of Commons: “Social mobility in the town is the lowest in the South East.
Read more: 'It's becoming a ghost town': Residents fear for 'sad town' after M&S closure news “Over recent years, rising deprivation has meant that exceptionally high levels of employment have done little to assuage poverty in the constituency, and over a third of Crawley’s children are now growing up in poverty. “Earlier this year, Crawley borough council became the first council in the country to declare a housing emergency. I love my town, and I am here to fight for it and solve those and other issues facing the constituency.
” Crawley Borough Council had announced that it had fallen short of its annual homes building target (Image: Google Maps) Earlier this month, Crawley Borough Council had announced that it had fallen short of its annual homes building target. In 2022/23 only 190 homes were .