Rural Statement

Our friend James Derounian offers his views on the rural statement. I was thinking the issues in the statement through myself earlier this week and I think there is a danger of being too harsh about some aspects of it. Producing the document has clearly been a tough and challenging process and it does provide a useful drawing together of all the key issues Government is seeking to address for rural communities in one place.

James offers his spin in terms of the specific poverty issue as follows:

The high water mark of English rural policy remains for many the Labour government’s 2000 rural white paper.

It provided a comprehensive assessment of the state of the countryside and a detailed prescription for next steps. Crucially, it set down targets and a timetable for progress and regular reports were published.

The white paper also spawned a number of ventures which the coalition government has adopted; neighbourhood planning and the Localism Act are just two.

Perhaps the most radical idea in the Labour paper stated there was no reason why “every new market house should not be matched with an affordable home”. This is a far cry from the coalition’s policy, where the planning gain requirements that force builders to include low cost housing in new developments in order to get planning permission, are being relaxed.

So what of Defra’s rural statement 2012? While it sets out the government’s “support for rural areas”, it’s not a green paper offering consultation and discussion, but a flimsy 18-page statement.

It’s perhaps hardly surprising: since the 2000 white paper the Countryside Agency has ceased to exist, and it’s successor, the Commission for Rural Communities, is on its last legs.

The statement drops all the right names: “A commitment to rural England … empowering communities … simplifying the planning system … rural proofing … innovative ways of delivering (library) services” etc. But as Walter Mondale, democratic contender for the US presidency famously asked: “Where’s the beef”?

Building on my introductory piece this article on the Defra website tells us:  “Rural economic growth is vital for this country. The Government’s role is to ensure that rural areas have all the infrastructure they need to grow. Businesses should then be free from the unnecessary Government red tape that has got in the way of rural economic growth in the past. For too long, rural England was neglected by central Government and its businesses struggled to achieve their ambitions.  We’ve already transformed the prospects of thousands of rural businesses and, want to make sure that change is felt in every part of rural England.  To do this, we’ve created the first ‘rural contract’ to give rural areas the power to hold us to account on our promise to grow the rural economy and support thriving rural communities.”