The latest Rural Proofing report, the Countryside Agency's annual report to Government is published today. 
Countryside Agency Archive

Breadcrumbs

Countryside Agency launches Rural Proofing report - 7 July 2004

The Government’s plans to devolve decision making and delivery of programmes closer to the ground makes ‘rural proofing’¹ at a local level critical to the well-being of England’s rural communities and businesses, according to the Countryside Agency in its annual report to Government published today.


Developing policies in a way that takes account of the implications for rural communities is now better recognised and reflected in Whitehall, the Agency’s assessment concludes.   But the performance of individual departments is variable.   At the regional level, last year’s positive start by the Government Offices to ‘think rural’ appears to have been sustained and further developed. 

Publishing Rural Proofing in 2003/2004 – a report to Government,  Countryside Agency chair Pam Warhurst said: “Ultimately, people will judge the success of rural proofing by the difference it has or hasn’t made for rural communities, such as the help now being given to 12,000 rural children through SureStart, or the roll out of Job Centre Plus services to 110 rural local authorities, making them accessible to more scattered communities. 

“Significant progress has been made over the three years since the Government made a commitment to rural proof policies as they were developed, and asked us to assess and report on policy makers’ efforts to ‘think rural’.    Our recommendations last year are largely being implemented – in particular a rural marker is now being attached to key datasets to improve measurement of the impact of policies through Public Service Agreement targets (PSAs) and rural proofing has been given prominence within the Treasury’s 2004 Spending Review guidance.   If departments subsequently rural proof their Spending Review delivery plans, then we should see a real difference for rural communities.

The Home Office is singled out for commendation in this Rural Proofing in 2003/4  report; after identifying problems 

“But now is not the time to take the foot off the accelerator. The forthcoming publication of Defra’s Rural Strategy and the outcome of the Modernising Rural Delivery programme (MRD) must be accompanied by a confirmation of the role and importance of rural proofing at all levels of government – national, regional and local. How policies and services are delivered locally has a major impact on those who live and work in rural areas.  

“Many local authorities have already demonstrated a commitment to rural proof their activities and some, such as Medway Unitary Authority and Bassetlaw District Council have pioneered this approach. More effort is now needed to promote rural proofing at a regional and local level throughout England and to make sure that others learn from the good practice being developed.”last year, it has shown a far greater commitment to rural proofing. The Department for Education and Skills has most successfully adopted the approach across its activities.

The report highlights examples of rural proofing at work, including:

  • The Pensions Service - backing up its network of pension centres by working in partnership with local authorities and the voluntary sector to extend its service; 
  • The Department for Constitutional Affairs - new guidance to Local Magistrates Courts Committees is clear about rural proofing and consulting locally.       

Examples where more effort is needed include:

  • Weakness in the monitoring of policies, with some departments unable to say what the rural impact of their policies has been – the new urban-rural definitions² and efforts to attach rural markers to departmental datasets are essential; 
  • Affordable housing   - following ODPM’s relaxation of the national housing target for smaller settlements of less than 3000 population from 2006, it is even more vital that Regional Housing Boards rural proof their housing strategies.      

The Countryside Agency has set up an e-resource to help policy makers consider whether their policies are likely to have a different impact in rural areas.    It is not a substitute for consulting rural communities, businesses or organisations but links to data and information, rural solutions and good practice examples on www.countryside.gov.uk/ruralproofing

Rural Proofing in 2003/4 – a report to Government by the Countryside Agencycan be downloaded from the Countryside Agency web site at www.countryside.gov.uk/ruralproofing or obtained free (Ref: CA 174) from Countryside Agency Publications, P.O.Box 125, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7EP. Tel: 0870 120 6466.

  -ends –

Notes to editors:   For further information or interview please ring the the Countryside Agency press office on 0207 340 2906 / 2909 or (o/hours) Isobel Coy on 07973 94 28 92. 

¹ The Rural White Paper ‘Our countryside: the future’  (2000) introduced the Government’s commitment to rural proofing policy development and gave the Countryside Agency responsibility for producing an independent annual report, assessing 12 central government departments’ progress.   This year, eight Government Offices (GOs) in England were given a loose framework from which to choose a maximum of eight policy areas to demonstrate their rural proofing activities and outcomes.         

² New urban-rural definitions for England and Wales (created by the Countryside Agency, Defra, ONS, ODPM and the Welsh Assembly) will provide a much more detailed and comprehensive classification looking at both settlement size/type and sparsity in future.

The Countryside Agency is the statutory body working to make the quality of life better for   people in the countryside and the quality of the countryside better for everyone.   It is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.    More information at  www.countryside.gov.uk