“This piece provides an overview of how England and Wales are multi-faith. According to the Census, our towns and cities are global villages with an extra 2.9 million foreign-born people living in England and Wales since 2001 – most from India, Poland and Pakistan – and an additional 1.1 million Muslims, bringing the total to 2.7 million. Christianity, or at least the number identifying themselves as followers of the largest religion, is on the slide with more than 4 million fewer saying they followed the church than in 2001.

The march of the faithless has also continued with 14.1 million people, about a quarter of the entire population, saying they had no religion at all, a rise of 6.4 million over the decade. The Church of England said the figures “confirm we remain a faithful nation”, but adding that the fall of 4 million in those choosing to see themselves as Christians was “a challenge”. With Justin Welby (the Bishop of Durham) about to take the top job and become the next archbishop, and having turned round the diocese, can he do it on a much bigger scale and transform the way people think about Christianity?”

It is a matter of fact that under the 2001 census there were more active congregations in rural than urban England and it would be interesting to learn how this might have developed over the last 10 years. The 2011 Census can be accessed here.

Another really interesting “story” arising from the latest census releases refers to the role of migrant workers – very important we know in rural England. See also this piece on Boston.

In many of the surveys and evidence calls undertaken by the Rural Services Network transport frequently comes top of the list of things Members are most concerned about. Connecting rural residents with key services such as education, health, leisure, retail and employment is vital, yet many Hinterland readers document ongoing challenges around accessing transport to do so – from villages served by three buses a day to villages that receive one bus a week; and from viewing car ownership as essential (with the increased fuel and maintenance costs that this brings) to which it feels like to be dependent on relatives and neighbours with cars to “go anywhere”. This piece picks up on the funding reductions that local authorities are having to make which has led 40% of them to cut spending on buses over the past year. Research carried out by the Campaign for Better Transport has shown how the Government’s austerity programme has led 41% of local Councils in England to make cuts to bus services, with 10% of Councils slashing their budget by more than 10%.

Apparently, Council budgets are under increased pressure because of the national off peak bus travel scheme for the elderly, In November, the Local Government Association warned of a “financial time bomb” caused by a 27% fall in Government support for the scheme between 2010 and 2015. However, Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director General, Age UK, said the elderly were still suffering the brunt of the cuts, despite the free bus travel scheme: “last year nearly 10 million older and disabled people owned concessionary bus passes and made an average of 109 bus journeys a year. But there is little point in having a bus pass if there are no buses to use”.

The Campaign for Better Transport research – ‘The crisis of bus provision in England: the second year of cuts to supported services – can be found here.

Nine separate government bodies, including Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Rural Payments Agency, made at least 114,000 visits to English farms during 2011 and 2012, costing £47 million, reports Farmers Weekly.

Some 84% of farmers responding to the NAO survey believed oversight bodies should coordinate their activity more. Whilst farm inspections provide assurance that farmers comply with regulations and prevent animal disease and environmental pollution. They are also needed to check that farmers comply with common agricultural policy (CAP) so that they can receive payments from the European Union. The NAO report makes a series of recommendations around avoiding the duplication of effort, need for coordination and information sharing and ensuring cost effectiveness.

The report – ‘streamlining farm oversight’ – can be found here.