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RWP
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Our countryside: the future. A fair deal for rural England
The Rural White Paper (RWP)
MPs/LORDS BRIEFING NOTE
A living countryside (RWP Chapters 2 - 6)
Minimum Service Standards
Access to services is a fundamental issue facing people living and working in rural England. Rural concerns are no different from urban worries - on health, jobs, transport, crime and education, but the way these are addressed may need different approaches. The RWP's new charter for rural services is an important step in the right direction, and we hope the Government will go further. We would like to see specific standards and targets for delivery across a range of services, so that rural people know what services they can expect to receive. Accordingly, in pursuing our role as countryside champion, we will press public service providers and departments to publish their rural service standards.
Community Service Fund
The new Community Services Fund, outlined in the RWP, is a welcome announcement expanding on our ideas for a community. It will enable local communities to safeguard and maintain those village services which are important to them. We are pleased that we will have an extra £15 million over 3 years for this scheme, which will allow us to support local people in gaining access to the services they want and need. The first grants will be available from April 2001.
Affordable Housing
Our research has demonstrated the crucial need for a significant increase in the provision of rural affordable housing to rent and buy, if the countryside is not to become a place where only the well-off can afford to live. We welcome the commitment in the RWP to doubling the Housing Corporation's programme in small rural settlements from 800 to 1600 homes a year and that the RWP includes other measures which will help to increase the supply of housing, such as allowing local authorities discretion to increase council tax on 2nd homes to 100%. However, our analysis shows that some 5,000 new affordable homes a year in rural areas are required to meet the needs. We would have liked the RWP to have gone further on this front, and we shall press the Government to do more in future years.
Rural Transport
Transport is the key concern of rural people and businesses. We welcome the Government's commitment to invest in rural transport and, especially, the emphasis on an integrated approach the commitment to provide £132 million over 3 years for rural bus subsidy grants and £60 million for the rural bus challenge. We are pleased that the Government has doubled the funds for our rural transport partnership scheme to £12 million. We expect this to deliver 500 new schemes across the country in three years. We also particularly welcome the Government's response to our call for a new scheme to enable parishes to find their own solutions to transport needs at a local level. We will launch this new £15 million programme early in 2001. We are also pleased to see the commitment to replacement rail franchises which should help to protect rural rail. The new money for community rail partnerships is also welcome.
A working countryside (RWP Chapters 7-8)
Market Towns
The Agency identified market towns as a priority soon after its creation last year. Market towns have a pivotal role to play in helping to revitalise rural areas. The Government has shown its commitment through the RWP which sets out how market towns can develop their vital role as service centres and hubs for the surrounding hinterlands. We have already been piloting a number of market towns schemes across the country. The RWP makes available £37 million in new resources over 3 years to support the regeneration of market towns in or near rural priority areas. This new funding will be shared between the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and the Countryside Agency and will, amongst other things, go towards creating a nationwide market towns health check and a toolkit for delivering regeneration schemes across the country.
Farming
We believe that further measures are needed to ensure sustainable and successful agricultural development. For example, there should be a new emphasis on harnessing the special character of the countryside for profit. More than this, CAP reform must take place speedily at European level. We continue to urge on and support Government in this process. In order to demonstrate practical measures on how CAP can be reformed, we will deliver integrated rural development projects, including nine major land management initiatives and an integrated scheme in the Forest of Dean.
A protected countryside (RWP Chapters 9-11)
Protecting and Enhancing our Countryside
We welcome the protection and support that will be afforded to the finest landscapes. We will complete the designation process for the New Forest National Park by 2001 and the South Downs National Park by September 2002. We will help to achieve conservation boards and put in place new management arrangements for all AONBs by 2005.
Green Spaces
We welcome the Government's recognition in both the RWP and the Urban White Paper that greenspaces close to where people live are vital for the well-being and quality of life in city, town or country. We are pleased that the Government has recognised our ability to deliver successful programmes on the ground. We will create at least 200 new green spaces by April 2007 in cities, towns and villages as part of our new programme to be funded by the New Opportunities Fund, as well as completing the existing 250 Millennium Greens by December 2002.
A vibrant countryside (RWP chapters 12-14)
Local Power
We have argued that rural communities should be able to be more involved in the decisions which affect their futures. We welcome, therefore, the proposals to push decision-making nearer to the ground and to encourage more vibrant local governance and local community empowerment which could make a real difference to rural people's lives. We will play a central role in helping communities to take advantage of these changes. We will operate a new fund to enable parishes to plan for their futures, which will provide the basis for other support. We will assist a training programme for parish clerks and councillors and help to put in place an IT based parish network, so that parishes can learn from each other. We will also continue to support local voluntary action through the 38 Rural Community Councils. The new Parish Transport and Community Service Funds (see above) are other good examples.
Rural Proofing
We welcome our central new role in helping Government to 'rural proof' its policy. Ensuring that all major policies and programmes are assessed for their rural impact is critical if the proposals in the RWP are to make a real difference for the countryside. Policies across Government, as they are developed, need to take account of the rural dimension, so that they address the needs of rural people. As well as assisting Government departments and others to do this, we will publish an annual report on the rural aspects of the Government's policies, which will be considered by the Cabinet Committee on Rural Affairs and National Rural Sounding Board. At a regional level, we will also advise and assist the Government Offices and other organisations in taking forward the rural dimension in their regional work. We will produce a rural checklist to help policy makers take account of the rural dimension as policy is developed. We are establishing a rural-proofing studies unit to assist this process. We will use our annual State of the Countryside report as a rural barometer.
For further information, please contact Fiona Ferguson, on 020 7340 2914, email: Fiona.Ferguson@countryside.gov.uk
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