It is vital that rural service levels are compared every two years so that the impacts of austerity and other rural pressures and new ways of working are constantly monitored. Services are the lifeline for every rural community and this is absolutely core work.
The Commission for Rural Communities used to provide this previously and it would be the fatal blow to rural areas if this work does not continue. The Commission’s report was a very comprehensive one and the Rural England report and the number of services it can cover will be determined by the level of support that can be achieved.
At the present moment we are looking for expenditure of some 25k spread over the two years for each report. We want to increase the resource to 36k as quickly as is possible.
Here is a synopsis of this work:
This report will collate and analyse recent evidence and information about the provision of services to rural communities and businesses.
The 2016 report will look at a range of service types, variously provided by the public, private and community sectors.
It is intended that this will be the first in a time-series of (biennial) reports, which track changes and identify trends, thus stimulating policy debate about the challenges, opportunities and the best policy responses.
Work is due to complete on the current State of Rural Services report by the end of 2016.