The Commission for Rural Communities’ work is founded on a strong and well respected rural evidence base. Here it is possible to access some of our core reports, data and statistics relating to facts about rural England.

High ground, High potential : a future for England’s upland communities

The aim of our Inquiry into the uplands was ‘to identify and evaluate the drivers of change in upland communities, and to develop policy recommendations to enable and equip them to move towards more secure, economically prosperous and sustainable futures’. The full report from this work can be found here, with a short summary here.

The Rural Big Society

The Big Society approach is already alive and well in many of our rural villages and market towns. But there’s a lot more that could be done to help.

The CRC and Respublica have worked together to develop this briefing paper,  based on engagement with a broad cross section of rural interest groups. It  looks at the value of the Big Society approach to rural communities and makes a series of recommendations for action.

Rural and urban definitions
Defining ‘rural areas’ is a complicated and sometimes contentious issue. Here the Commission for Rural Communities provides an overview of how different geographies are officially defined for analytical purposes.

Rural services Data series
Service availability and accessibility has been a key rural policy issue for many years. In order to monitor changing levels of service availability, we combine datasets that show where outlets of particular services can be found, with postcode level information on the distance that households are from service outlets.

State of the countryside
The latest comprehensive information on the social, economic and environmental condition of rural England.

10 Big Numbers
Headline facts covering a range of factors affecting fundamental aspects of living and working in rural areas. These facts are regularly updated and are based on robust and widely understood data sources.

Rural Proofing – Toolkit

Rural proofing is a commitment by Government to ensure domestic policies take account of rural circumstances and needs. It’s a mandatory part of the policy process, which means as policies are developed, policy makers should:

• consider whether their policy is likely to have a different impact in rural areas, because of particular circumstances or needs
• make proper assessment of those impacts, if they’re likely to be significant
• adjust the policy where appropriate, with solutions to meet rural needs and circumstances

Rural proofing applies to all policies, programmes and initiatives and it applies to both design and delivery stages. The Government is committed to making rural proofing a reality at national and regional levels.

Attachments

• Rural Proofing Toolkit (pdf, 1367 KB)