MPs rap Defra over the rural economy
Oct 29 2008 by William Green, The Journal
MINISTERS are today damned by MPs for marginalising the countryside by failing to boost the rural economy and affordable housing.
Even basic aspects of rural life from transport, communications, planning and further education have been effectively ignored in drawing up policies, according to the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
Such serious deficiencies have damaged rural areas such as Northumberland and County Durham, according to a new report by the committee that will be published today.
A report in June identified untapped potential of as much as £347bn annually in rural businesses and called for greater support to help them realise it. But MPs said there was little to convince them that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) approach to the rural economy would deliver the tailored solutions that rural business need.
Defra was also accused of failing to be pro-active in promoting the countryside in Whitehall and ensure other Government departments consider rural needs.
MPs said it had failed to properly support the wider rural economy and expressed concern about data used by Defra to develop countryside policy.
And it has left a “strong perception” that rural affairs have been “marginalised” by Defra, according to the damning report.
But the committee said Defra now had the opportunity to focus on rural affairs after its responsibility to fight global warming was transferred to the new Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Jeff Reid, leader of Northumberland County Council, said: “It confirms what we feel in rural parts of Northumberland, that we haven’t had a fair deal.” The Liberal Democrat added: “The affordable housing situation is a crisis and they seem to be stumbling around in the dark.
“If they are going to do one thing to help the rural economy across the piece in Northumberland, then they need to dual the A1.”
Hexham MP Peter Atkinson said rural communities had been marginalised despite “fine words” from the Government about “rural proofing” policies.
Rural areas have not been properly funded to take account of their sparse population and to take account of the cost of providing services, added the Conservative MP.
Mr Atkinson also said there had been a lack of emphasis on helping ensure rural firms and farms were profitable.
“We have seen a lot of village shops threatened by the closure of post offices.
“There has been no plan put in to set out how we can boost local shops at a time when people are getting increasingly concerned about buying local,” said the MP.
Northumberland council leaders Isobel Hunter and Peter Jackson, who also run small businesses, hit out at cumbersome regulation and transport problems. Ms Hunter, who leads Berwick Council, added affordable housing was vital to give local young people the chance to have a home in their area and ensure a mixed population.
She suggested planning changes might be required, saying: “In some villages, it may just be one or two houses, but that can make a big difference.”
Committee chairman Michael Jack said rural entrepreneurialism was alive but added: “If it is to be ‘well’, Government must now find a lasting solution to the challenges of affordable housing, transport costs and the maintenance of a skilled labour force.”
Rural Affairs Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said the countryside was “immensely” valuable to the economy and the Government was committed to supporting local business.
The Government rural-proofed policies to ensure the special circumstances of rural areas were taken into account, he added.
Defra is also planning to carry out research into the performance of rural areas to see why some do better than others.
Click here to download the full report.
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Transport 'is vital to people in country'
MINISTERS have been accused of failing to help rural businesses in the North East.
MPs said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had to tailor policies to rural firms.
They said it must publish a timetable setting out how it will strengthen the rural economy after failing to provide sufficient support to boost all areas.
Berwick Council leader Isobel Hunter, who runs a small haulage firm with four vans in Tweedmouth, said: “They don’t help us because we are heavily taxed for our diesel.
“They should be looking at how much transport is needed in the rural areas.”
The Liberal Democrat said poor bus links meant people needed cars in the countryside.
She expressed concerns the economic downturn could hit her company, which employs five people, and other small countryside firms.
Ms Hunter said: “The rural business is important because sometimes they only employ three, four or five people but that is money staying within the economy.”
Castle Morpeth Tory council leader Peter Jackson, who runs a farm management company, said: “Government should get off our backs in terms of regulation.
“The amount of regulation that we have to comply with is a real disincentive to rural business.”
Mr Jackson, whose Ponteland-based business employs six staff, also urged the Government to create a level playing field between UK rural businesses that worked to far higher standards than others worldwide.
Click here to download the full report.
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Important role
REGIONAL development bosses say rural responsibilities are taken “very seriously”.
The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said regional development agencies such as One North East must work closely with the Government on rural issues.
It warned of a perception that RDAs were “urban-focused and uninterested in small-scale projects”.
Frances Rowe, One North East’s head of rural policy, said: “Rural areas play an important role in the wider growth of North East England’s economy and the agency takes its responsibilities towards them very seriously.”
She said: “Earlier this month, ONE announced £600,000 of funding to test practical solutions to issues that can prevent people from moving into jobs and training or starting a business in rural Northumberland.
“And in September we provided a £500,000 rapid response fund to help businesses hit by flooding in Morpeth get back to trading as quickly as possible, along with support for farmers to safely dispose of drowned sheep.”
The agency also manages around £7.3m a year from the Rural Development Programme for England.
