Summary
The creation of the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (Defra) in June 2001 was significant in that
it established for the first time in England a government department
with specific responsibility for representing the interests of
rural areas. Education is a key public service and one which presents
special challenges for providers in rural communities. We therefore
decided to examine how Defra works within government to facilitate
the effective delivery of education in rural areas.Transport and
the provision of information technology, particularly broadband,
present notable challenges for education providers in rural areas.
Policy solutions require co-ordination between various government
departments and local statutory bodies which do not all have direct
involvement in education provision. We were disappointed to find
that Defra does not appear to have established a role for itself
as the lead body with responsibility for co-ordinating policy
responses in rural areas on these issues. The further education
and training sector is particularly important in rural areas because
of the link it provides between education and the wider rural
economy. Defra has recognised this through its target to increase
participation rates in rural areas. However, we found little evidence
that Defra is making a significant contribution towards meeting
its target.We found examples of good practice where Defra and
the Countryside Agency had offered practical solutions to particular
issues for education providers in rural areas. There are mechanisms
within central government to ensure rural issues are considered,
such as the Cabinet Sub-committee on Rural Renewal. There is also
evidence that the Government has taken the specific needs of rural
areas into account in the way that it has developed some of its
education initiatives. Nevertheless we found little which suggested
to us that Defra is monitoring the delivery of education in rural
areas or that it has been particularly successful in representing
the interests of rural areas in the formulation of education policy.
We therefore conclude that, in respect of education, Defra has
some way to go before it can be considered to be an effective
department for rural affairs.
|
