Rural Affairs

Chapter 3: Vital Village Services

Supporting Basic Local Services

Status key:-

Completed - completed
Revised - revised
On track - on track
Redundant - redundant

RWP Commitment RWP Ref Achievements/next stages Date Status Lead
Expansion of village shop rate relief scheme to more food shops 3.2.2
 Achieved - the provisions in The Rating (Former Agricultural Premises and Rural Shops) Act 2001 extending village shops rate relief to food shops have been brought into force.
 August 2001
 Completed ODPM- LGF2
Extension of rate relief to some village pubs and garages 3.2.3
 Regulations have been brought into effect. April 2001 Completed ODPM- LGF2
Establish a new Community Service Fund of £15m over three years to help sustain or re-establish basic village services (including expansion of village shop support) 3.2.5
(& 3.2.2)
 Launched Vital Villages programme which includes Community Service Fund. Jul 01 Completed Countryside Agency
Total 2,388 grants offered since 1/4/01 (including RTP) Apr 03
Total of 2,696 grants offered since 1/4/01 (includes RTP).  Aug 03
Total of 2,719 grants offered since 1/4/01 Dec 03
Due to success of the programme and the high levels of demand, targeting criteria were introduced in June ’03 to give priority to applications from communities with the greatest need and to projects that most closely meet the objectives of the Vital Villages Programme.  
New application packs were also produced with on-line applications process. Dec 2003
Pub is the Hub good practice guide produced.  
Reduce the rate of VAT from 17.5% to 5% on repairs and maintenance of listed buildings which are also places of worship
 3.2.4
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Pre-Budget Report on 10 December 2003 that funding was in place for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to continue until the end of March 2006. Dec 2003
 Completed DCMS
It remains a Government objective to achieve a reduced rate of VAT for the repairs andmaintenance to listed places of worship as part of the review of Annex H of the Sixth VAT directive, which governs VAT reduced rates in EU member states, although at this time the future of these negotiations is uncertain.

Maintaining and modernising the rural post office network

RWP Commitment RWP Ref Achievements/next stages Date Status Lead
Develop Post Offices as one-stop shops for access to a wide range of government services
 3.3.2
 The Government funded a pilot of Your Guide in some 260 post offices in Leicestershire and Rutland, to test the concept of combining information and services from a wide range of Government Departments and Agencies delivered via a variety of channels, including interactive touch screen kiosks, leaflets and over the counter advice from post office staff.
 August 2001

 Completed DTI / Post Office
The pilot was completed and evaluated. The published report showed that , while customers liked and used the Your Guide service, most believed that they could have obtained the same information from other sources. The pilot also showed little value for the Government or the Post Office and it was decided that a national roll-out would not provide value for money. June 2002

July 2002
Develop Post Offices role as access point to banking services
 3.3.3
 Secured agreement from High Street Banks to contribute to the Post Office provision of universal banking  at rural outlets. May 2001 Completed DTI
Universal banking  (access to basic bank accounts and the Post Office card account) went live on schedule on 1st April 2003  
All the major banks are making their own basic bank accounts accessible at post offices. Some of the banks also provide access to other current accounts, either using a cheque book or, in the case of Barclays, Alliance and Leicester and Lloyds TSB, now electronically. The Post Office is in discussion with the other banks about wider electronic access to their other bank accounts. April 2003
Implement recommendations of the Performance and Innovation Unit report on the Post Office to maintain rural network 3.3.1
 Third annual report on post office network published Sept
2003		 Completed Post Comm
Measures announced:  
Removed introductory payment previously required from new sub-postmasters. May 2001
Created new senior role in the Post Office to oversee network's interest and look at options and alternative solutions for avoiding rural closures. July 2001
£2m new fund to help volunteer and community initiatives with costs of relocating and refurbishing rural post offices. July 2002 DTI/Post Office
199 grants approved, totalling £1,466,240 approved and payments totalling £1,146,053 paid as at end July  2003. Feb 2002
Revision of Code of Practice on post office closures. December 2002 Postwatch
£450m fund announced to maintain the rural post office network for three years from April 2003, including £25m flexible fund to pilot innovative methods of service delivery.     DTI

Supporting Local Schools

RWP Commitment RWP Ref Achievements/next stages Date Status Lead
Create a fairer financial regime for schools
 3.4.2
 Achieved - decisions on a new formula grant distribution system were announced as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2003/04, approved by Parliament on 5 February 2003. 
February 2003
 Completed Office of the Deputy Prime Minister/DfES
New merged fund to assist small schools
 3.4.2
 Single Small Schools Fund will make available £80m per year (2001-02 to 2003-04) to enable small schools to tackle administration and develop innovative practice in sharing resources and collaboration. Please note that payment will, be made as part of the 'School Support Staff' grant for 2003-04. Ongoing Completed DfES
For 2004-05, we have included £279 million for support staff salaries and small schools and £51m for training and development in a new single grant for schools, the School Development Grant, worth £647m in total. Schools will be free to spend their School Development Grant on any purpose to support improvement in teaching and learning, leading to higher standards of attainment for every learner.
Connect all schools to the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) - School Connectivity 3.4.3 The target of connecting all schools to the NGfL over the Internet by 2002 has been achieved. 2002 (connectivity target)

2006 (broadband target)		 Completed DfES
By spring 2003 over 99% of schools were connected to the Internet compared to 1998 figures of just 17% of primary schools and 83% of secondary schools.
Due to issues of affordability and access, it is probable that some schools in rural areas will not be connected to broadband until the end of the roll out period, 2006.
By the end of August 2003 42% of schools were connected at 2 Mbps or faster (91% of secondary schools and 34% of primary schools). The corresponding figure for rural schools was 33%.
Funding to support connectivity – including £143 million in 2004-05 – is available within the ICT in Schools Standards Fund grant. To get best value from this, and from funding for broadband across the public sector, nine Regional Aggregation Boards (RABs) are being set up.
Encourage greater community use of schools
3.4.4
 ContinYou, with DfES support, has set up an extended school support service, which will assist LEAs, local authorities, government offices and schools that are involved in the extended school initiative as well as offering support to LEAs preparing to become involved in the extended schools approach. Sept 2003 On track DfES
through
CEDC
DfES has supported extended school pathfinder projects in the 2002-03 academic year to test out and evaluate different models of provision of ‘extended’ services and facilities, and generate examples of good practice, as outlined in “Schools: achieving success” White Paper. An evaluation report is planned to be published in April 2004. Oct 2002
The Department will be funding both development of full service extended schools and the appointment of LEA/school level co-ordinators/managers. All LEAs will receive funding for both strands by 2006.
DfES issued extended schools guidance in October 2002, to help schools wishing to adopt this approach. It covers matters such as assessment of local needs and assets and opportunities, partnership working and relationships with other agencies, access to funding sources, management arrangements, and finance/staffing /health and safety/security/premises and related issues. Separate, but connected, guidance on developing childcare facilities in schools has also been published. 2006

Better Access to Childcare and Early Education

RWP Commitment RWP Ref Achievements/next stages Date Status Lead
National childcare strategy to create 128,000 new childcare places by 2000-1
3.5.2
 Produced National Childcare Strategy - Good Practice Guide for EYDC Partnerships Rural Issues. Target achieved in March 2001
 Completed DfES
National Childcare strategy to create a further 250,000 new childcare places by 2006, in addition to the existing target of new places for 1.6 million children by 2004 - Childcare places to be reported on annually. 2006
The Sure Start Unit allocated £70,000 to 2 rural voluntary organisations to create or expand childcare services in their area. Funding was allocated in 02-03 financial year. March 2004
Forum for Rural Children and Young People to help shape policy and practice on childcare to meet rural circumstances
 3.5.2
 Co-ordinator appointed.   Completed Countryside Agency
Forum was formally launched. Jun 01
Regular meetings held.  AGM held. Jun 02
National conference held with Rural Health Forum on rural children and young people's health. Sept 02
Forum contributed to crosscutting review on children at risk and Government Forum co-ordinator used by DfES to comment on latest round of Connexions business plans.  
Presentation to RAFE on social exclusion for rural children and young people. Apr 03
Funding extended by 6 months to develop further the exit strategy with Countryside Agency and Defra. Secured £10k from Carnegie Trust.  
Working with Defra on a project on Participation of Children and Young People in local democratic process.  

Page last modified: 19 May, 2005
Page published: 10 December, 2002

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs