MEMORANDUM BY THE MINISTER FOR THE CABINET
OFFICE (RWP 35)
MINISTERIAL GROUP ON RURAL AFFAIRS (MISC
8)
The Prime Minister announced on 10 November
that he was establishing a Cabinet Committee to co-ordinate the
Government's policies affecting rural areas. The members of the
Committee are the Home Secretary; the Secretary of State for Education
and Employment; the Secretary of State for Health; the Secretary
of State for Culture, Media and Sport; the Minister of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food; the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry;
the Chief Secretary to the Treasury; and the Minister of State,
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Other
Ministers, including those in the Scotland Office, Office of the
Secretary of State for Wales, and Northern Ireland Office, will
be invited to attend meetings as and when business requires.
2. The first significant work for the Committee
was to gain collective agreement to the Government's proposals
for the new Rural Development Regulation (RDR), agreed as part
of the Agenda 2000 reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The RDR will enable member states to pursue a range of policies,
mainly through support to farm, food and forestry businesses;
and targeting the specific needs of their rural areas, including
agricultural restructuring, rural development, diversification,
and environmental protection and enhancement. The Committee agreed
the framework for the Government's spending proposals in the seven
year England Rural Development Plan, covering the period 2000-06.
The England Rural Development Plan will show a radical shift away
from production-related payments under CAP commodity regimes to
measures aiding agriculture industry restructuring and benefiting
rural economies and the environment, with every pound recycled
matched by a pound from the Government. The England Rural Development
Plan has been drawn up by national and regional teams from relevant
Government Departments, national agencies and Regional Development
Agencies, guided by MAFF Headquarters.
3. The Committee is steering the work of
the Cross-cutting Study on Rural and Countryside Issues, which
is part of the Spending Review 2000. The Study will cover rural
development, environmental and public service issues. The Study
will also be a good example of officials from a range of departments
working as a team, steered by Ministers as part of the Ministerial
Group, with external expertise making a valuable contribution.
4. The Rural White Paper is being prepared
jointly by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the
Regions and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in
consultation with other relevant Departments. They submitted a
memorandum to the Select Committee in September 1999 (reference
RWP29). Proposals are being worked up in the light of extensive
consultations last year, including those on the RDR, and emerging
ideas from the Rural Economies Study carried out by the Performance
and Innovation Unit. The Rural White Paper will set out the Government's
vision for rural England, exploring a range of policies that can
help foster sustainable communities; looking at development and
regeneration policies; and examining the way we are conserving
and enhancing the countryside as a resource and amenity for all.
The Ministerial Group on Rural Affairs will be the vehicle for
collective discussion of, and securing collective agreement to,
the White Paper proposals.
5. The Ministerial Group will also look
at the policies of Departments as they affect rural areas, and
ensure they work as effectively as they can together to support
rural life. It will deal with other issues with a rural dimension
as they arise.
Minister for the Cabinet Office
January 2000
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