Conclusions and recommendations
Transport
- We recommend that the internal review of statutory
walking distances be extended to a public consultation with a
deadline for implementation of a new system. We urge the Government
to overhaul radically the current arrangements. A new system should
be based on an assessment of safety issues and the real alternatives
to walking and not just crudely based on distance from school.
Defra and DfES should ensure that the particular needs of rural
areas are taken into account. (Paragraph 16)
- There is clearly scope for innovation in the area of home-to-school
transport. Given this, we were disappointed by Defra's relative
lack of involvement in finding solutions. We were also surprised
that the Countryside Agency's recent report on Transport in
Tomorrow's Countryside makes little reference to education transport.
We believe that Defra should be involved at a local level with
LEAs to bring together resources and implement innovative transport
schemes which, where successful, can be replicated in different
parts of the country. Defra should identify and fund solutions
which would meet the needs of families in rural communities.
The aim of these schemes should be to reduce reliance on cars
and enable all school pupils to take part in out-of-school activities.
(Paragraph 19)
- Defra should examine the lessons of the Wheels to Work Scheme
and fund a similar scheme which would develop innovative transport
solutions for post-16 students in isolated rural areas. (Paragraph
0)
- We welcome the steps that the Government has taken to improve
transport provision for the 16-19 age group. We particularly
welcome the national extension of the Educational Maintenance
Allowance and believe that, when introduced, the allowance will
help students in rural areas with the additional costs of travel
to school and college. (Paragraph 0)
- Defra has a key role in monitoring the effect of the various
government initiatives and pilot projects to help post-16 students
attend school and college. We recommend that Defra publish examples
of good practice by LEAs in rural areas, and also identify those
LEAs where students are prevented from attending school and
college because of poor transport provision. (Paragraph 0)
Information and Communications Technology
- We welcome the Government's commitment to ensuring all schools
have a broadband connection by 2006. We also welcome the fact
that many witnesses believe that this target will be met. We
recommend that the DfES publish regular updates showing progress
towards the target. It should ensure that separate figures for
urban and rural areas are collected and published. (Paragraph
0)
- We recommend that an assessment be made of the additional
costs of providing good IT systems in rural schools. Defra should
take the lead in assessing whether the additional money for
rural schools made available through the sparsity factor adequately
reflects these additional costs, and should publish its findings.
(Paragraph 0)
- We recommend that the DfES consider the extent to which satellite
broadband technology can increase the rate at which rural schools
are being provided with a broadband connection. We also recommend
that the Government assess how broadband connections to rural
schools might be exploited by the rural community more generally.
(Paragraph 0)
- Defra should be taking a lead role in monitoring the implementation
of broadband in rural schools and the opportunities this offers
to rural communities. Again we are disappointed that its role
appears to be largely tangential. (Paragraph 0)
Supporting and enhancing schools
- We urge the Government to continue to provide grants to LEAs
which support collaborative projects between small schools.
The potential benefits of clustering should be explored as widely
as possible across the age and ability range. The Government
should support clustering and publicise examples of good practice
from LEAs. (Paragraph 0)
- We do not believe there is any substantiated evidence that
small rural schools necessarily offer either a better or worse
standard of education than larger urban ones. Generalisations
about the relative performance of small and large schools should
therefore be avoided. (Paragraph 0)
- We welcome the Government's policy of a presumption against
closure of rural schools and the associated fall in the number
of rural schools which have closed. (Paragraph 0)
- Defra should take the lead in ensuring that there is consistency
in government policies related to rural schools. We recommend
that Defra work with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
to revise the best value framework so that LEAs do not face
pressure to reduce surplus places by closing small, rural schools
that are viable. (Paragraph 0)
- We agree that decisions about whether small rural schools
remain viable should be based primarily on educational considerations
and policy should be led by DfES. Nevertheless, Defra should
play a role in dealing with the effects of closure on rural
communities. We recommend that Defra work closely with LEAs
to monitor school rolls in rural areas and publish a report
identifying those areas most at risk. Defra should work with
the relevant LEAs and the DfES over decisions about school closures,
provide assistance, where appropriate, to maintain village schools,
and work with local authorities to support communities where
schools are closed. (Paragraph 0)
- We welcome the extended schools initiative and support the
Government's vision of the rural school as the hub of the local
community. We are also reassured by the fact that of the 25
Pathfinder projects, six are based in rural areas: Cambridgeshire,
Cornwall, Durham, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Northumberland.
We remain concerned, however, that the use of the deprivation
index to identify the most disadvantaged areas for future funding
may limit the extent to which the initiative reaches rural areas.
(Paragraph 0)
- We urge the Government to consider the needs of rural areas
carefully as it prepares the extended schools policy and to
ensure that rurality is a positive criterion for qualifying
for available funds. (Paragraph 0)
Further education
- We recommend that the Government fund a number of projects
in rural areas which seek to enhance the role of further education
colleges within the local community. The Government should learn
the lessons of such projects and consider broadening the scope
of its extended schools initiative to facilitate an enhanced
community role for further education colleges in rural areas.
(Paragraph 0)
- We recommend that Defra establish mechanisms by which local
Learning and Skills Councils, LEAs and providers co-ordinate
their work to ensure that the educational needs of rural communities
and the rural economy are being met. Particular attention should
be paid to enhancing co-operation between school sixth forms
and further education colleges so that students in rural areas
can be provided with a wide range of educational opportunities.
(Paragraph 0)
- We believe it is indefensible that there are no published
figures on take-up and retention of students on courses of further
education and training, broken down by rural and urban areas.
This is despite the fact that Defra's Service Delivery Agreement
contains a target to "increase the proportion of 16 and
17 year olds living in rural areas taking up further education
and training through the programmes of Learning and Skills Councils".
Defra should publish the current position, indicate what it
intends to do to improve participation and retention rates in
rural areas, and state by what date it expects to see a demonstrable
improvement. (Paragraph 0)
- We recommend that the Learning and Skills Council and Defra
work together to assess the extent of any correlation between
sparsity and the costs of providing further education and training.
Defra should ensure that there is a clear definition of rurality
for this purpose, based on the work currently being carried
out by the Countryside Agency, and, if necessary, collect sufficient
data to complete the analysis. (Paragraph 0)
Joined-up government
- We urge the DfES to continue to encourage the establishment
of Sure Start programmes in rural areas. (Paragraph 0)
- We recommend that the DfES commission research into problems
of social exclusion, special educational needs and non-attendance
in rural areas. (Paragraph 0)
- We welcome the work of the Countryside Agency in supporting
Lincolnshire's Rural Academy. This is the type of project where
we would expect an Executive Agency of a department for rural
affairs to be playing a key role. Unfortunately, it is a rare
example. We recommend that Defra support the creation of rural
academies in other rural areas. (Paragraph 0)
- We recommend that the DfES' Rural Schools Group publish an
annual report which sets out the issues it considered and the
action taken as a result of its work. (Paragraph 0)
Role of Defra
- If Defra has a role in contributing towards the Government's
vision of vibrant rural communities, we believe it has to maintain
some presence in those areas or at least have mechanisms in
place for monitoring what is happening there. (Paragraph 0)
- We have highlighted three areas in this report where we believe
a department for rural affairs should be playing a key role:
transport; schools and colleges as community resources; and
broadband and ICT. These are all policy areas which cross Government
Departments and would benefit from a single entity taking a
lead on behalf of rural areas. We found little evidence of Defra
playing a significant role on any of these issues. (Paragraph
0)
- We recommend that a section of Defra's website be devoted
to work within its rural affairs remit. It should contain details
of the way Defra has represented the interests of rural areas
on particular issues to other policy makers within government.
It should also include reports on how effectively Government
policies have been delivered in rural areas. This would go some
way towards improving Defra's accountability in relation to
its rural affairs remit. It would also provide an excellent
example of open government. (Paragraph 0)
- Most of our recommendations to Defra in this Report relate
to monitoring and reporting on the effect of education policy
in rural areas. We are surprised and disappointed that Defra
is not carrying out this work already. It is the least that
a department for rural affairs should be doing if it is genuinely
to represent the interests of rural areas. We believe this work
should only be the start. Defra and its agencies could contribute
to innovative solutions to the problems and issues facing rural
areas which its monitoring work has highlighted. Only then will
it truly be fulfilling its mandate - as reflected in its title
- to be a department for rural affairs. (Paragraph 0)
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