Coastal Towns Descending into Decline - Skegness and the Poverty Trap

Have some of England's traditional seaside resorts been abandoned to a future of permanent poverty? That looks like it might be the bleak prognosis for Skegness which has come top (or should I say bottom) of a listing of socially-deprived resorts.

Skegness in Lincolnshire is the most socially deprived seaside resort in England, according to a new report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which examined key indices of social deprivation between 2007-2010.

Skegness ranked worst overall out of 31 large seaside destinations (40,000 residents plus) and 26 mid-sized destinations (15,000–39,999 residents.)

The resorts were ranked on seven indices: income; employment; health and disability; education skills and training, barriers to housing and services; crime and living environment.

Following the publication of this report, the ONS said that it may compare seaside destinations with other deprived areas such as inner cities and coalfields areas.

The report comes just weeks after the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) published research showing that some coastal resorts around England and Wales experienced some of the highest levels of social deprivation in the UK.

The think-tank set warned that many of Britain's seaside resorts had been turned into “dumping grounds” for the poor.

According to the ONS, the most deprived seaside towns in England are:

1. Skegness and Ingoldmells

2. Blackpool

3. Clacton

4. Hastings

5. Ramsgate

6. Seaham

7. Margate

8. Hartlepool

9. Great Yarmouth

10. South Shields

11. Barrow-in-Furness

12. Ryde

13. Fleetwood

14. Sunderland

15. Bridlington