Times will get very hard for local authorities over the next few years.

In rural areas, where there is often a lack of critical mass for service operation and inappropriate national funding formulae, it will be as tough as it gets. We think that joint working, pooling thoughts, and lateral thinking are going to be the key to maintaining good service and we seek to act as the hub of operation in this way. We are gearing our service to be of maximum value to our members in this critical period.

The services we intend to offer members can be seen here (283KB pdf).

SPARSE RURAL is a grouping of 80% of the most rural councils in England as identified by Government; Counties, Unitaries, and Districts. These local councils work together to give heart to the delivery of rural services across the country with a grouping of over 100 non council service providers called the RURAL SERVICE PARTNERSHIP that comprise an alliance of Police, Fire, Health, Housing, Educational, Business and National Rural Bodies. The two organisations work together as the RURAL SERVICES NETWORK.

This is the only organisation in the country dedicated solely to the promotion and betterment of rural services. The group provides the vehicle for representation, the establishment of joint service working and the dissemination of best practice in service to England’s predominately rural communities.