In this week's MP column, David Williams, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove, discusses bringing the city's heritage buildings back into use.

In his conference speech, Prime Minister Andy Burnham promised to tackle one of the hardest problems in politics: social care.

He acknowledged that he might pay a political price. He said it anyway.

Whatever your politics, there is something to respect in that. People want politicians who take responsibility for difficult problems and stick with them.

Locally, we have heard enough promises to know that an announcement is only the beginning.

When I was elected, I promised to do everything I could to save our heritage buildings. Keeping that promise means confronting neglect, finding practical uses for threatened buildings and pressing for help before it is too late.

For me, this is personal. My mum and my granddad worked in the potbanks of Tunstall and Burslem. Like thousands of families across the Potteries, ours was shaped by those places: the hours, the heat, the skill, and the pride in making something the whole world wanted.

When I walk past an old potbank, I see where my family earned its living.

That is why I believe Stoke-on-Trent faces a heritage emergency. Thousands of bottle ovens and kilns once stood across the Potteries. Fewer than 50 remain standing.

Our historic factories, chapels, institutes, town halls and pubs also face the threat of neglect and loss.

Sometimes a fire destroys a building. Sometimes a roof gives way after years without repairs. Sometimes a property is left boarded up until saving it becomes far harder and more expensive than it needed to be.

Whatever the cause, the loss is permanent.

These are the places where our grandparents worked, worshipped, learned, and even courted! They give our streets their character and help explain who we are.

Once an original building has gone, even the most expensive reconstruction cannot recover the history held within it.

I understand why a family struggling with bills or looking for a decent home might ask where heritage comes on the list of priorities. Saving a building costs money. Restoration can be complicated. We should be honest about that.

But bringing historic buildings back into use can help meet those everyday needs.

Where conversion is suitable, an empty factory can become good-quality homes close to shops, buses and services. Restored premises can give small businesses room to grow. Bringing people back into our town centres supports local shops and makes streets feel cared for again.

Middleport Pottery shows what determined restoration can achieve: a historic site given a future, with space for visitors and creative businesses alongside its pottery heritage.

That is why I support making the best use of brownfield land and existing buildings. Each site needs a workable plan, but we should look seriously at what can be saved and reused before accepting demolition.

Taking this on means saying some uncomfortable things.

Owners who allow historic buildings to deteriorate must be challenged. I will back the council in taking appropriate action against neglect, and press ministers for the funding and support needed to intervene earlier.

We need help while a building can still be repaired, rather than sympathy once it has burned down.

It also means questioning proposals that promise a quick solution but leave us with another empty site for years. Where demolition is proposed, residents deserve a clear explanation of why restoration is not viable and what will happen next.

I cannot do this alone. Over the coming months, I want to continue working with residents, the council and heritage organisations to give as many of these buildings as possible the future they deserve.

You know these places: the factory your grandparents worked in, the chapel where your family married, the pub on the corner that has been boarded up for years.

Tell me which buildings matter most to you, what condition they are in, and why you want them saved.

You can fill in my survey here

I want to be judged on what follows. After fourteen years of Conservative government, people were entitled to judge its record on our towns, high streets and historic buildings. They are entitled to judge Labour's record too.

By the next general election, I want us to be able to point to buildings secured, restoration under way and historic places back in use. Local people should be able to see what our efforts have achieved.

I will not promise that every building can be saved. But I will fight for the places that make this area ours, and be honest about both the progress and the obstacles.

Our grandparents built these places to last. We owe it to them, and to the next generation, to give them a future.