Environment, Food and Rural Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE)
1. ACRE is the national body of the Rural Community Action Network whose members are charitable local development agencies working largely at county level. The network’s shared shared purpose is to act as a catalyst for rural initiatives and help rural communities generate a more sustainable and vibrant future for themselves. Our 38 member organisations collectively provide coverage of rural England, and specialise in working at the interface between communities and local government.
2. ACRE has been an effective national advocate for rural issues for several decades. The depth of our understanding of rural community issues is derived through our members’ direct connections to grass roots experience and we have become adept at predicting rural impact of national policy. Defra has formally recognised our network’s capability by investing in our members’ ability to make a difference to rural communities at local level by working strategically with local government as well as in support of community-led initiatives.
The approach of the Rural Communities Policy Unit
3. ACRE is pleased to see the concept of rural proofing back on the government’s agenda. Our network has, for many years, been the focus of local strategic influencing on behalf of rural issues through direct advocacy with local government. Our members have been instrumental in the creation and coordination of county rural forums, regional rural affairs forums and now the new local rural networks.
4. ACRE believes that rural proofing is now reinforced by being clearly located within government. In our opinion, this is a much more streamlined and effective approach than the previous arrangements where there was a lack of clarity between the role of the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) and Defra’s own under-resourced rural proofing remit. Furthermore, we were not confident that CRC was able to wield influence on government departments in a consistent and effective way. We believe that Defra’s RCPU is better able to fulfil this, given its policy staff are now theme-based and there is more authoritative input into conversations with other government departments.
5. One drawback of the changes is that there is a lack of monitoring or independent scrutiny of the challenges and successes of rural proofing. The CRC annual reporting and the State of the Countryside Report did serve to raise awareness of rural issues and provide a commentary on where the greatest challenges remain. RCPU’s rural advocacy needs to be made visible and visibly effective. We are suggesting a number of proposals which could be developed to enhance the visibility of RCPU’s role and activities as follows:
6. There should be a requirement for the rural element of formal Impact Assessment on any government policy proposals to be more explicit so that rural stakeholders understand how their needs have been accounted for.
7. RCPU should take a more overt role in helping educate other government departments about rurality through formal training and access to the rural evidence and intelligence. RCPU should strengthen its current practice of brokering discussions between rural stakeholders and other government departments on relevant issues.
8. Predicting impact on rural areas often requires a level of expertise about context, structures and processes inherent in rural community life which may not be available in Whitehall. For instance, one of the most common issues of rural proofing is that parish councils, as statutory bodies, are often omitted from eligibility criteria for applicants to investment programmes aimed at community groups. The RCPU should formalise its current practice of seeking pre-policy development dialogue with rural stakeholders as an essential milestone in fulfilling Defra’s rural proofing remit.
9. ACRE would support the need for an annual “report to government” on rural proofing which would be an important aspect of demonstrating the effectiveness of Defra’s rural proofing remit. This could usefully be a role for the EFRA Committee itself to “receive” the report and, if necessary, explore issues raised.
10. For RCPU to report effectively, it has to be recognised that many rural proofing issues will arise because of the local interpretation and delivery of national policy. We welcome Defra’s recent work on improving local level rural proofing. However, successful implementation and monitoring will be dependent on the existence of efficient and effective feedback loops, through its stakeholder networks, on what is actually happening at the grass roots. Systematic evidence collection would be required, rather than ad hoc requests for information on where rural proofing has failed. Access to structured grass roots intelligence underpins Defra’s current investment programme in ACRE’s members.
11. We believe that the streamlining of relationships and the existence of theme-based expertise within Defra’s RCPU has made a considerable difference in the quality of dialogue with Defra civil servants. As part of the programme of Defra investment in our network, ACRE has created discrete mechanisms for individual RCPU policy officers to engage with a reference group of local practitioners with expertise in each of the individual Defra priority themes. We have found this relationship very fruitful and we also value the production by RCPU of a regular Impact Statement, which identifies where the relationship between ACRE, its members and Defra has made a difference to government policy development.
12. If the above measures were implemented, we see no role for a separate, independent Rural Advocate. However, without a formal scrutiny mechanism for rural proofing, there is likely to be continued pressure, from rural stakeholders, to retain the Rural Advocate role, which would have to be resourced to be effective.
Rural Grants and Funding
13. ACRE applauds the Cabinet acknowledgement of the need for a tailored Rural Growth Review which addresses the different economic characteristics and challenges in rural England. The way in which it identifies specific rural solutions is particularly encouraging. It is, however, important that the overall Growth Review also needs to be looked at through a rural lens so that, at the grass roots, it is seen as a seamless policy initiative by government that is tailored to the needs of rural areas.
14. We would want to ensure that progress at the grass roots, particularly in terms of the Rural Growth Network pilots, are translated into policy influence elsewhere across Whitehall, rather than the Rural Growth Review being seen as purely an “RCPU/BIS” initiative.
15. We do not believe that a focus on the rural economy alone will deliver sustainable rural communities. Social and environmental factors are integral to the concept of sustainable rural growth and not always acting in opposition. ACRE’s member experience in working with local communities to help them explore their future under a Community Led Planning exercise has demonstrated that economic issues can become better understood and lead to more positive action by local people.
16. To reinforce the importance of a more holistic view of future sustainability in rural areas, communities should be considering the potential alternative uses of land assets, for example, for recreation, food production and for renewable energy—this brings into sharp focus the different social, economic and environmental aspects that need to be considered in the round.
17. The role of communities in supporting small scale business and enterprise is increasingly being recognised by rural stakeholders with outcomes that include community-based tourism strategies, production of local business consortia purchasing and directories and business breakfast clubs in the local pub. Neighbourhood planning, done well, should reinforce the perceived value of considering the economic health of the community—keeping money in the local economy and providing retail services and local jobs.
18. ACRE believes that Defra RCPU has a unique role in ensuring that its own history of investment in rural communities shaping their own future through Community Led Planning is complemented, rather than confounded by new government policies on localism, community rights and streamlined planning system. The early impetus by DCLG and partners on delivery of neighbourhood planning appears to many to be locked into concerns about the process and regulations and the relationship with the new National Planning Policy Framework. This is a real shame, since the potential positive outcomes for the health and economic well-being that communities could achieve through debating the best way of securing a sustainable future are being sidelined in favour of testing and refining the process of getting neighbourhood plans adopted. We believe there is a role of Defra in ensuring that the DCLG’s agenda on neighbourhood planning is monitored in terms of quality of outcomes that contribute to RCPU’s wider agenda, not just in the number of plans produced.
Government Policy
19. The five rural priorities identified by Defra are long standing issues for rural areas, each of which demands the consideration of specific rural solutions.
20. With housing, ACRE knows from its members’ grass roots experience with Community Led Planning, confirmed by independent research undertaken by the Homes and Communities Agency, that communities are more likely to adopt positive attitudes to new development if local homes for local people can be secured as a result. We are pleased that the new cross-subsidy approach to rural exception sites has now been given due profile in the final NPPF and welcome the support Defra RCPU gave to achieving this.
21. We also believe that rural areas have a significant role to play in knowledge transfer on how best to provide the impetus for communities to embrace the opportunities provided by the Localism Act. The outcomes could significantly influence the ability to promote delivery against Defra’s other priorities on transport and services as well as housing. The RCPU should be ensuring that lessons learned in Defra’s delivery of investment under the Rural White Paper 2000 in rural housing enabling and Community Led Planning are explored in the national rollout and mobilisation of neighbourhood planning.
22. Defra’s investment from 2000 onwards was tailored to meet the needs of rural areas and it succeeded in kick-starting a culture that was embraced by communities and local authorities alike. ACRE’s member organisations played a significant part in supporting the rollout of Community Led Plans, creating local forums, training opportunities and resources and embedding the resulting structures and processes at local level. Over 4,000 communities have so far taken on the challenge of shaping their own future and contributing to their own wellbeing. Neighbourhood Planning investment has strong potential to complement and build on this work, but only if the delivery approach acknowledges and harnesses best practice already in place.
23. The priorities of broadband and fuel poverty also have specific rural challenges to overcome so we applaud Defra’s work with both Broadband UK and DECC to ensure specific rural objectives are met. Both themes require the ability to reach out into remote rural communities and stimulate demand to enable private sector partners to deliver support or services. Our network members are uniquely placed to be able to make this happen.
24. We welcome the recent separate identification of transport as a priority theme and, like many other rural stakeholders, would support a further specific Defra focus on rural health. This recognises the differential in experience of health services between urban and rural areas as well as the significant difference in the average age of the population.
25. The forthcoming Ministerial Rural Statement is an opportunity to redress the lack of any appropriate commitment on rural issues in the Defra Business Plan. The Rural Statement is a chance for Government to give “rural” a higher priority overall and to raise the profile of the role and work of the RCPU within and outside Whitehall. Whilst it would be helpful if its contents have the buy-in of other government departments, we hope it is more than a rehearsal of current government initiatives that apply across rural and urban areas.
26. ACRE would welcome the opportunity to participate further in the Select Committee’s discussion on rural communities and the performance of the RCPU.
September 2012