Press release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saturday, 27 April 2019

Rural Services Network response to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Rural Economy ‘Time for a strategy for the rural economy’ report

Rural Services Network chief executive, Graham Biggs, said:

“We welcome the report which strongly echoes our own “Time for a Rural Strategy” campaign and reflects the many service and social issues which need to be addressed in rural areas.

“In particular we are very pleased to see the report call for rural councils to receive a fair share of national resources for the delivery of local government services to address ‘the additional costs of service delivery’ in these areas – this something the RSN has been calling for over the past 10 years and more.

“We, along with many other rural organisations, hope that Government will rise to the challenge of producing a Rural Strategy for England, and to unlocking the huge potential of rural areas; not just in terms of economic benefits, but also embracing the scope for genuinely inclusive growth and equitable service provision.

“We urge Government to respond quickly and positively in order that action can be factored into the current Comprehensive Spending Review to develop a thought-through cross-Government strategy with an imaginative, equitable and forward looking approach to rural areas and communities.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Interview opportunity
Chief executive of the Rural Services Network (RSN), Graham Biggs, is available for interview to comment on the report and the deep-seated challenges to the sustainability of rural communities. Please contact olivia.parish@lexcomm.co.uk to make arrangements.

RSN
RSN is the national champion for rural services, ensuring that people in rural areas have a strong voice. The organisation launched its ‘Time for a Rural Strategy’ campaign in March with support from the Church of England. The campaign calls on the Government to produce an urgent comprehensive strategy for rural areas in preparation for Brexit, in light of a warning that people living in ours towns and villages ‘simply cannot afford to wait any longer for politicians to take their concerns seriously and act on them’.

We call on Government to produce a Rural Strategy to set out their priorities for Englands Rural Communities and the Rural Economy for the future and we ask you to support this call.