Environment, Food and Rural Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Herefordshire Council

Introduction and Summary of Recommendations

1. We welcome the opportunity to respond to the Select Committee on EFRA (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) enquiry into Rural Communities, which include the Rural Communities Policy Unit (RCPU), rural grants and funding, and government policy.

2. We think that embedding rural proofing into other government departments has always been a challenge. We propose that the RCPU should be demanding that rural proofing be mandatory for policy makers in exactly the same way as the equality impact assessment. This is particularly important where significant implications for rural areas are likely such as through planning policy, guidance and legislation in relation to economic development, access to broadband, and community cohesion. We therefore propose that all policies must be subject to a rural proofing unless a case can be made that it should not apply ie policy that applies to cities and large towns only. We also propose that the RCPU are given a monitoring and challenging role to ensure efficacy.

3. We believe that there is a need to raise the profile of rural issues, as well as the successes and contributions of rural economies and communities within all government departments. We think that many of the rural issues are common in an urban context, but exacerbated by reasons of geography, demography and access to services. We are therefore proposing the establishment of a Rural Parliament for England. We propose that the RCPU with the endorsement of the DEFRA minister support the development and operation of a Rural Parliament along the lines of successful Scandinavian models. The proposal is currently being championed by ACRE and the LEADER network.

4. We think that there is a role for an independent rural advocate to hold all ministers to account. We propose that the Rural Advocate report to the Prime Minister to ensure that the rural voice has not been abandoned and that government takes seriously the need to address rural issues.

5. Whilst we welcome the funding going into rural areas, we think that the measures of support are not comprehensive. We propose that DEFRA gets a commitment from BIS to embed the future rural economies firmly in its policy approach to economic growth and wellbeing. We would also like to see other government departments eg DOH, DECC, Transport, etc firmly embed “rural” into their policies.

6. Creating sustainable communities should be the focus of the Rural Policy Statement. We propose that DEFRA use and build upon the work done by the CRC on measuring sustainability and community “health” using the Bristol characteristics of sustainability. We propose that the Rural Policy Statement should include the following:

(i)Give commitment to make rural proofing mandatory for all government policy makers in the same way as the equality impact assessment.

(ii)Include a commitment to include a rural premium in calculations for government expenditure where services are more expensive to deliver.

(iii)Include a commitment to broadband access and speed in rural areas by the end of the parliament

(iv)Include a commitment to continue and strengthen the role of the Rural Advocate now that CRC is to be abolished.

Response

A. The approach of the Rural Communities Policy Unit

1. We welcome the RCPU’s role in supporting the DEFRA’s ministerial team to champion rural issues across Government. We think that if rural proofing is going to be effective in ensuring that policies and initiatives are developed in ways that are appropriate to the needs of people living in rural areas, it will therefore be essential to review the effectiveness of existing policies and programmes from the viewpoint of rural proofing.

2. We think that the progress in rural proofing within central government has been patchy at best. We therefore recommend that the RCPU work with local government and rural networks (eg the County Council Network, Rural Services Network, Local Nature Partnership, Rural and Farming Networks, Rural Local Enterprise Partnership and other rural networks) to promote the effective rural proofing of policies and programmes across government; provide assistance with gathering rural evidence, statistics and intelligence capacity; and increase the capacity to build and maintain a strong rural evidence base.

3. It should be noted that there was considerable progress in rural proofing at the regional level and with interest shown at a local level, notably amongst local authorities. Progress in rural proofing was achieved in liaison with a range of partners such as rural fora, local strategic partnerships, local authorities, and a number of public, voluntary agencies eg Natural England, Environment Agency and CPRE.

4. There is also an expectation that the RCPU staff will work closely with colleagues in other government departments to ensure that the needs of rural residents, businesses and communities are properly understood and taken into account in policy making.

5. We welcome the RCPU’s engagement with rural groups such as the Local Enterprise Partnerships in rural areas, Rural Development Programme for England network to develop open and collaborative approaches to gathering information, funding innovative solutions and identifying issues of critical importance to rural communities.

6. We encourage the RCPU to work with Local Government, rural networks and civil society organisations to encourage and promote improved provision of support and services in rural communities.

7. We would also like to see the RCPU monitoring progress in the delivery of the Government’s rural policies, at national and local levels to ensure that policies and delivery on the ground are meeting needs and leading to measurable benefits.

8. We are unclear if the RCPU’s mandate includes rural deprivation but would recommend that it does. This is a key issue to address and will require engaging with rural communities, including hard to reach groups, to ensure that their views are heard by and articulated to Government and other bodies to inform policy-making and delivery.

9. As the RCPU is taking on some of the functions of the Commission for Rural Communities, it is unclear if it will act as a watchdog for rural people and businesses. If this is not the case, we recommend to either appoint a Rural Advocate who will take on some of the functions of the Commission for Rural Communities or to strengthen the role of the Rural and Farming Network and include being a watchdog for rural people and businesses in its remit.

B. Rural Grants and funding

1. We recognise that the Rural Economy Growth Review which introduced a range of measures to improve digital connectivity, provide investment in skills and training, promote food, farming and forestry, and encourage the development of high potential sectors will help stimulate rural growth which is necessary to boost the rural economy.

2. We think that the Rural Growth Review attempted to concentrate on measures which would benefit a majority of rural communities and firms, not just those that are distinctly rural in character, by building on their enterprising strengths and tackling the constraints that prevent them making a greater contribution to the national economy and to social and environmental wellbeing.

3. However, we are concerned that these measures and the funding allocated to these themes are restricted to stimulating sustainable and long term economic growth. We think that broad economic stability, competitive markets and public investment in physical and social infrastructure are widely recognised as important requirements for achieving sustained economic growth and reduction in rural poverty. We recommend that rural economic policy should focus on issues such as access to credit, education and skills development, improvement of rural infrastructure, attracting inward investment, and basic services. Hence, we recommend that the following measures to create condition of growth in the rural areas be supported:

(i)Access to a wide range of sources of finance for businesses.

(ii)Education, skills and flexible workforce development and improving access to all these;

(iii)Investing in infrastructure to make the rural areas fit for the 21^st century;

(iv)Trade and investment—increasing our export to emerging markets and attracting investment into the UK to drive sustainable growth;

(v)Construction to deliver new infrastructure and development to drive growth;

(vi)Support for retail as this is a key route for other sectors of the economy, notably the food sector, and accounts for 5% of the GDP;

(vii)Additional investment to next generation broadband;

(viii)Investment in digital and creative industry;

(ix)Support for tourism which has clear potential as one of the fastest growing sectors in the rural economy;

(x)Investment in low carbon economy and the development of carbon markets;

4. We are concerned that any delay in the negotiation of the EU budget for 2014–2020 and the CAP reforms, including Pillar 2 would leave a funding gap which may affect the continuation of rural development projects such as the Uplands Entry Level Stewardship, and the community rural broadband fund, which may affect the long-term restructuring of the rural economy.

C. Government Policy

1. The Rural Policy Statement should provide information on the Government’s plans to address rural needs and interest. This statement will underline the Government’s commitment to the fair treatment of rural people and places in all its range of policy areas, including broadband, housing, health, education, economic development, fuel and energy, transport and services.

2. We welcome the DEFRA report outlining the conclusions of the Upland Policy Review and a range of RDPE-funded measures to help upland farmers. In addition to the proposed measures, we recommend that the government also adopt the following:

(i)Business support to enable farmers in the uplands to exploit business opportunities.

(ii)Carbon markets—identify mechanisms by which the uplands could participate in a carbon market, what regulatory barriers need to be removed and what likely return to farmers would be.

(iii)Water markets—support upland farmers in developing water markets more widely in the uplands. Upland land managers can help improve water quality, work on water sequestration schemes with the goal of reducing flood risk.

(iv)Tourism—support land managers, farmers and partners in improving tourism businesses in the uplands.

September 2012