Rural Affairs

Chapter 7: Market towns and a thriving local economy

The issues

  • Many rural areas are prosperous with high growth rates, high employment and attractive as a business location. Others - particularly in remote rural, coastal and coalfield regions - have serious economic difficulties with declining towns, loss of younger people, high unemployment, low wages and low investment: seven out of ten English counties with the lowest GDP per head are predominantly rural.
  • In places the local economy can be heavily dependent on primary industries, such as agriculture, mining, quarrying and fishing; this can cause social and economic difficulties should there be any large structural changes in those industries.
  • For some businesses in rural areas small size and physical isolation can create barriers to growth; it is harder to access markets, transport materials, obtain skilled labour and get business support and advice.

The future - what we want to see

  • Thriving economies in all rural areas which provide good quality employment opportunities and exploit the versatility, entrepreneurial tradition, and, increasingly, local green business potential. A better trained rural workforce. Small rural businesses exploiting ICT and marketing their goods and services well outside their local region.
  • Market Towns as a focus for growth in areas which need regeneration, and more generally as service centres and hubs for surrounding hinterland, exploiting their potential as attractive places to live, work and spend leisure time.
  • Regeneration of deprived rural areas (the Rural Priority Areas) through development of a broader economic base and regionally comparable skill levels, employment and business development.
  • Tourism as an increasingly important business sector as leisure spending on enjoying the countryside and its towns increases. Land based businesses such as forestry and horse enterprises and demand for distinctive rural products and services will be key factors in continued rural prosperity.

Summary of measures

  • Market Towns ‘Health Check';

  • £37m over three years to fund Regeneration for Market Towns in or near Rural Priority Areas to create a £100m programme with partnership funds;

  • Rural areas will benefit from increased resources and flexibility for RDA programmes (from £1.2bn to £1.7bn by 2003-04);

  • New rural vision for RDAs to realise potential of rural economy and help it adapt to declining industries;

  • Extending ICT access and use in rural areas;

  • Tailored business support and training in rural areas;

  • 100 per cent capital allowances for creating flats over shops for letting.

7.1. The economy in rural areas

7.2. Enhancing the role of market towns

7.3. Widening the economy in rural areas

7.4. A key rural industry: tourism

7.5. Dealing with distance and raising skill levels

7.6. Helping rural businesses to succeed

Rural Economies

The Cabinet Office PIU study on Rural Economies (see chapter 1) looked at the role of the economy in rural areas and highlighted the following

Strengths

  • High quality of life in rural areas attracts relocating businesses and encourages local businesses to stay;
  • The value of the countryside as a marketable product, for tourism and recreation;
  • Competitive advantage over urban areas for some types of enterprise, such as those dependent on natural resources;

Weaknesses

  • Absence of a sufficient pool of suitable labour for some types of business;
  • Lack of a critical mass of supporting businesses and services;
  • Relatively poor communications, including the infrastructure supporting Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

7.1. The economy in rural areas

7.1.1. The economy in rural areas is increasingly dependent on regional, national and global business links, rather than the traditional pattern of rural trades. Nevertheless rural areas continue to have certain distinct business features (see box) such as a high proportion of micro-businesses (90% under 10 employees). Land and countryside character are a strong factor in creating new enterprises in tourism, food, country sports and recreation. Also important are professions and trades which support businesses in the hinterland (accountants, surveyors, construction trades) and public services which are often the large employers underpinning the economic strength of a country town. As with conservation, environment and tourism businesses, these act as a focus for other services and new business growth.

7.2. Enhancing the role of market towns

7.2.1. Market towns play a critical role in helping rural communities to thrive and in regenerating deprived areas. They are small rural and coastal towns many of which serve a rural hinterland whether or not they have ever had traditional agricultural markets. Some may have grown up around a canal or railway junction or as a coastal resort while continuing to be an important commercial and leisure focus for a rural hinterland. There are over 1,000 towns in England with populations between 2,000 and 20,000. Many have suffered from the decline of agriculture, mining, textiles or other industries.

A changing role

7.2.2. The shift of services (both private and public) to larger towns because of economies of scale has further undermined the role of some market towns. Research on the impact of large foodstores on market towns has shown that locating new stores outside the centre of a market town can have a devastating effect on the continued vitality and viability of the town centre and of town centre shops. They may now be further threatened as Internet-based services replace traditional high street activities such as banking, estate agents and travel agents. The businesses and communities in these towns need to respond to their changed circumstances to maintain their physical fabric, economic vitality and a good quality of life for people both in the town itself and the surrounding rural areas. But there is no single solution to meeting the challenges they face.

7.2.3. Our planning policy guidance on town centres and retail development (PPG6) already seeks to ensure that new retail and other key town centre uses locate in the centre of market towns to maintain and enhance their vitality and viability. We also stress the need for town health checks and town centre management. We have stopped the drift to out-of-centre or out-of-town sites. We now need to reinforce the role of market towns and their potential to support a more sustainable pattern of development by ensuring that they are the focus for a range of private and public services to which people need access.

7.2.4. With vigorous local effort, the fortunes of some market towns have revived, and rural regeneration programmes have already helped many towns, but with rapid change in business, retail and consumer patterns many more are vulnerable. We see market towns as having a crucial part to play in the future development of the rural economy. Prosperous market towns can help regenerate the surrounding area as:

  • A focus for economic development and regeneration including markets for local food and other countryside products;
  • Centres which meet people's needs for access to a wide range of retail, professional and public services without destroying the character of the area (see chapter 4);
  • A focus for properly planned and co-ordinated public transport (see chapter 6);
  • Distinctive places to live often with a fine heritage and historic buildings and the potential to act as a centre of cultural activity.
A new commitment to market towns

7.2.5. So we are making a new commitment to market towns to help them manage the process of change. We will strengthen market towns which can provide improved services for surrounding rural areas and we will help regenerate the most deprived. We will ensure that both central and local Government bodies explicitly recognise the role of market towns in their strategies. Many of the RDA strategies and recent reviews of Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) already recognise the crucial role of market towns and are identifying action to support this role. It will also feature in our revised guidance to RDAs on rural policy. We will also expect regional planning bodies to take this objective fully into account in future RPG reviews. In addition:

  • We will provide new resources of £37m within the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) rural programme and the Countryside Agency programme over the next three years to support market town regeneration. Together with matching support from partners and EU funds we expect to create a £100m Market Towns programme over three years. This will enable:
    • A regional regeneration programme led by the RDAs, with the CA and other regional partners, of around 100 towns across all RDAs, which will help create new job opportunities, new workspace, restored high streets, improved amenities and transport facilities and help with community needs. These towns will be selected on the basis of:
    - their potential to act as a focus for growth, relieving disadvantage and increasing economic opportunity in the Rural Priority Areas (see paragraph 7.3.4);

    -their potential to act as a service centre, with a broad range of services, and well placed with good transport links to surrounding towns and villages;

    -the ability of local partners to commit resources alongside the RDA programme;

    -the extent to which they have already benefited from regeneration programmes including the rural programme, SRB, European funding and others.
    • The Countryside Agency will identify a national beacon towns network drawing on this experience and featuring 10-20 towns to demonstrate the range of different problems and challenges which market towns experience and from which other towns can learn. All market towns would be able to draw on a National Best Practice Programme - publications, training events, and a web site - led by the Countryside Agency, in partnership with the RDAs and Action for Market Towns. Health checks for individual towns - see page 78 - will be a part of this approach.
  • We are revising the Planning Policy Guidance on Land Use Planning and Transport (PPG 13) which emphasises the role of market towns as the focus for rural jobs and services. The new guidance will advise local planning authorities in rural areas that major public services which need to be accessible to the largest rural population should be located as far as possible in local service centres which may be market towns or large villages with good transport links. At the same time, this does not rule out smaller employment opportunities being located in more remote rural areas (see paragraph 8.4.3).
  • We will be asking public service providers to make Market Town provision a key element in their strategies (and encouraging the private sector to make a commitment to Market Towns in their service programmes) (see table 7.1).

Case study ø Oswestry: town centre regeneration
In 1994, Oswestry, Shropshire, was experiencing the impact of major out of town shopping centres. Many town centre shops were empty; there was a feeling of apathy, particularly within the Chamber of Commerce; the retail markets were hit by recession and the ever extending hours of supermarket trading; bad 1960s town planning coupled with a medieval street pattern made pedestrian and traffic conflict commonplace; Town and Borough Councils were in conflict over supermarket applications and in or out of town siting. At one time, the Borough Council had 11 supermarket applications to resolve. Following a presentation by Boots, the Chemist, to the councils and Chamber of Commerce, a town centre working group was set up involving both the public and private sectors. Partners worked together on tourism, retailing, competition, unemployment and the superstore issue. The Oswestry Town Centre Partnership drives forward the strategy, and oversees the special task force of 14 council officers who carry out the work and apply for project funding. Much has been achieved by the Partnership, including a facelift of shop fronts, cycleways, new bus station, steam railway centre, visitor signing, shopper loyalty scheme, customer care training, community safety audit, living over the shop and a workway arts scheme. Over £7m has already been raised from the Lottery, businesses, European funding and local authorities. Within five years, the Town Partnership aims to reduce crime by 20%, create 200 new jobs, attract £16m investment and train 250 people in customer care.

Case study ø Ibstock: community led regeneration
The village of Ibstock in Leicestershire is on a former coalfield and the 5,000-strong community was hard hit by the closures of the surrounding pits in the 1980s. When the villageÕs only bank closed in 1995, local traders fought hard to install a cashpoint machine in the defunct bank, and turn the building into a community resource centre. They persuaded the Co-operative Bank to provide the cashpoint machine, and the benefits have been felt by residents and businesses alike. The campaign has boosted village morale and rekindled a sense of pride in the town.

Table 7.1: A Market Town Template for the East Midlands ø facilities to be available (edited extract)
  Larger Market Town (10,000-25,000 people) Smaller Market Town (2,000-10,000 people)
Retail Basic comparison shopping, including local traders and national multiple retailers. Post Office. Farmers market and/or other retailing of local produce. Existing livestock markets. Convenience shopping (including Post Office) and some weekly specialist needs provided for. Farmers market and/or other retailing of local produce. Existing livestock markets.
Financial services Main High Street banks and building societies. 24 hour cash provision. At least one bank and one building society agency. 24 hour cash provision.
Healthcare Large Health Centre including dentist and pharmacy and Ambulance Station. Small Health Care Centre or large doctors surgery, dentist and pharmacy
Education, community and social services Adult education facilities, youth centre, Further education provision and full access to remote learning. Secondary school. Dedicated IT facility. Secondary school, base for youth services, access centre for further/adult education. Remote learning and ICT links available to public in business hours.
Cultural facilities (sports, arts and leisure) Permanent library, range of cultural facilities, leisure centre (with swimming pool), local cinema. Pubs and restaurants. Facilities for teenagers other than youth clubs. Permanent library facilities. Cultural events/local Arts venue. Sports pitches with changing rooms, sports hall, weekly cinema. Pubs and restaurant. Recreation park.
Natural environment Trees/woodlands in the built environment. Habitat and open space linked. Watercourse corridors and floodplains enhanced. Trees/woodlands in the built environment. Habitat and open space linked. Watercourse corridors and floodplains enhanced.
Employment sites Wide range of sites/premises available including workspace and serviced sites. Re-use of existing buildings and brown field sites. Adequate range of sites/premises available plus the provision of workspace and serviced sites for employment opportunities.
Employment opportunities Full time Job Centre or equivalent. Information for the individual on jobs/training. Part-time Job Centre or equivalent. Information for the individual on jobs/training.
Business support/advice Support base providing access to Small Business Service and Citizens Advice Bureau. Visiting support including access to Small Business Service and Citizens Advice Bureau.
Childcare Range of facilities and holiday clubs. Permanent nursery and out of hours childcare. At least one facility and holiday club available including out of hours childcare.
Public administration Permanent Local Authority presence and/or Town Council office. A town centre manager. Access to a District/County Council sub-area office. Shared town centre management.
Tourism Tourist Information Centre and a wide range of overnight accommodation. Tourist Information access in a multipurpose centre. Range of overnight accommodation.
Police, fire, courts Magistrates Court, main police station, fire station and/or links via multi purpose centres. Part-time police office and fire station and/or integrated emergency services centre.
Public and community transport Daily town and rural public transport, including evening and weekend services. Bus station with coach services interchange. Taxi services. Regular daily public transport to surrounding villages/towns. Evening and weekend services to major towns. Local taxi service.
Town centre environmental uplift Comprehensive approach to historic buildings. Traffic management and pedestrian access plan. Proposal to identify individual buildings or groups of buildings for environmental uplift.
Housing Range of housing for purchase and rental. Local point to advise on housing availability. Range of housing for purchase or rental. Access point to advise on housing availability.
This template has been compiled by East Midlands Development Agency, The Countryside Agency, Government Office for the East Midlands, Council for the Protection of Rural England, Civic Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund, East Midlands Regional Local Government Association, Lincolnshire Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, East Midlands Arts, Employment Service, Heart of England Tourist Board, English Nature, English Heritage, Action for Market Towns, and the Forestry Commission. These partners are committed to providing a positive response wherever possible to the provision of any facilities shown in the template.

The Market Towns Health Check

Some market towns and their centres need particular support to regenerate themselves. The evidence suggests that the key ingredients for success are:

  • Business, local authority, voluntary group, residents and other partners coming together as a steering group for each town;
  • Appointment of suitably qualified project officers, answering to the steering group for each town (or a group of very small towns). These will sometimes be secondees from local authorities and sometimes outside appointees;
  • Intensive and systematic consultation of communities with data being gathered via surveys;
  • On the basis of the findings, a range of specific proposals for change to be drawn up by the group and put to the community;
  • On the basis of consultation feedback, a way forward will be agreed and an action plan drawn up. This will include agreeing any applications for funding from outside sources;
  • Action in accordance with the plan will be carried out, co-ordinated by the project officer who will report regularly on progress to the Steering Group.

This is not intended to be a precise blueprint, and the ordering of events may differ in different towns, but it sets out the main steps. The outcome will take advantage of each town's comparative advantages of location, physical inheritance, human capital and both local and outside financial resources. The results should be a variety of physical improvements as well as in renewed local pride, with the community taking and keeping control of its town's destiny. Individual town programmes will help local authorities and community partners with the consultation process; the employment of project officers; some individual projects; and training, eg to help local businesses to use modern retail practices, and put ICT to best use. The Countryside Agency will encourage the application of best practice health check methods across all of England.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

Opportunities for business funding

7.2.6. If market towns are to become the busy hubs that we want to see, they need to be attractive places with good buildings and good open spaces. The maintenance of historic buildings in a good condition and their continuation in use makes an important contribution to this. We see the achievement of this quality and area improvement as very much a matter for partnership between the local authority and the local businesses, in whose interest it will be to help improve the attractiveness of the town as a whole to help to attract more custom. To help achieve this we are consulting in the Green Paper Modernising Local Government Finance on:

  • Proposals that will allow local authorities to raise a supplementary rate providing that representative partnership arrangements have been agreed with their local business community. The funds raised could be used for local projects chosen with the agreement of the affected ratepayers. The proposals would allow councils to raise a local supplement of no more than 5% of the national rate, phased in at 1% per year, with high performing authorities able to raise a further 5%. This may be a local authority wide supplement or locally targeted (for instance on one market town);

  • Town Improvement Schemes (TISs) (as described more fully in the companion White Paper Our Towns and Cities: The Future - Delivering an Urban Renaissance) These could be funded by the supplementary rate. The Green Paper Modernising Local Government Finance also invites views on alternative funding arrangements.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.2.7. Empty or under-used space above commercial premises in the centres of market towns can have an adverse impact on their appearance and attractiveness as well as being a waste of space that can be used to provide more homes.

As announced in the November 2000 Pre-Budget Report, we plan to introduce a 100% capital allowance for creating ‘flats over shops' for letting to encourage better use of vacant and under-utilised space above shops and other commercial premises.

Case study ø Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme in Towcester
English Heritage is spending £18m over four years from 1999, in urban and rural areas, on conservation-led regeneration schemes including rescuing historic buildings, investing in the re-use of buildings, and helping the re-occupation of under-used upper floors of high street properties. The scheme is expected to lever in private funds of four or five times that amount. Towcester, a Roman town, with a town centre in need of new investment in the physical environment, new employment, and new visitor attractions, has already benefited from English Heritage funding. Grants of over £90,000 have levered in private finance of over £230,000. A key project was the renovation of the disused and deteriorating Towcester Mill as office accommodation near to the town centre now occupied by a computer firm that would otherwise have relocated elsewhere.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.3. Widening the economy in rural areas

7.3.1. If market towns and their hinterland are to thrive, their role needs to complement that of neighbouring towns and cities. A thriving countryside means being part of a successful regional economy. That helps rural areas achieve a wider base so as to maintain and create good quality jobs. Some rural areas do well in attracting new business but others suffering job losses in farming, mining or through defence base closures fail to do so. Similarly, some areas are more successful than others in growing small and medium-sized companies, establishing business clusters and encouraging the formation of start-ups. It is from activities such as these that much of the future prosperity of rural areas will spring. Our objective is to promote growth which is in tune with its surroundings and builds on countryside strengths, for example through:

  • Developing local advantage in particular trades or specialisms, such as vegetables and food processing in the Fens or small scale engineering in the Midlands;
  • Promoting ICT based business potential as in East of England Development Agency's strategic innovation corridors linking new economy businesses in the rural hinterland of its major industrial and research centres such as Ipswich and Cambridge;
  • Supporting local business clusters based on links with higher education or local networks in creative or media businesses;
  • Supporting and building up local business groups through sympathetic development planning, purchasing local speciality products (for example by local authorities) and supply chain initiatives;
  • Building on local identity, culture and character particularly in leisure related businesses, as in the success of market towns such as Ludlow, Hay on Wye, Wareham, and Romsey.
Case studies ø initiatives using local strengths
Food Fen, a self help training, research and co-operation group in the fenland area covering 450 businesses with 12,000 employees linked to 2,000 farmers in area where farming and food industries represent 50% of employment.
Brigantia - a business association to improve co-operation marketing for quality arts and crafts business in the North York Moors.
Dales Made: established craft business association, works with its members to build marketing strength, achieve efficiency and growth in an information technology environment. With a retail outlet in Settle, it safeguards 300 jobs in the rural area of North Yorkshire.
Regional Development Agencies

7.3.2. To achieve a successful economic strategy which will benefit towns and rural areas as well as cities, requires partnership and leadership at a regional level. We have created Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to drive forward economic performance, development and competitiveness, skills development, encourage inward investment, and deliver regeneration within a sustainable development framework. This means working with regional and local partners including the Regional Chamber (who will have endorsed the Regional Sustainable Development Framework) and the Regional Planning Body if it is not already the Chamber, County and District Authorities, Learning and Skills Councils (see 7.5.8.) and the Small Business Service (see 7.6.2.).

Rural regeneration

7.3.3. Rural, as well as urban, regeneration is one of the key objectives for the RDAs and their programmes will bring substantial benefits across the region through work on training and skills, on ICT and business support, on improving regional infrastructure and on competitiveness generally (see box). Each Regional Development Agency published a Regional Strategy in October 1999, analysing the strengths and weaknesses of their region and these take account of the needs and strengths of rural areas and of their differing regional priorities and character (in the south west over 65% of the population in the RDA live in largely rural districts).

How RDA regional priorities benefit rural areas:

East of England Development Agency have identified skill shortages and gaps in the construction sector across the region, but also that much of the sector is rural and as demand continues to grow it has become an increasingly practical alternative to agricultural employment. But to meet projected demand of 8,000 vacancies a year will require an integrated approach to training, mobility and recruitment.
The North West Development Agency has adopted a strategic approach to tourism in Cumbria to encourage visitors away from the major honeypot areas such as parts of the Lake District. The development of the major and innovative earth covered ‘Rheged' Upland Kingdom Discovery Centre in North Cumbria will create up to 300 jobs in an area suffering from unemployment as a result of upland farming's decline. Visitors are also being encouraged to the western coastal resorts in Cumbria by infrastructure improvements.
The East Midlands Development Agency, introduced the concept of creating the East Midlands Food Campus (formerly known as the University for Food) as a means of enhancing the competitiveness of the food industry within the East Midlands through greater collaboration between the educational sector and industry. The East Midlands Food Campus will be a mechanism for delivering the key parts of the Regional Strategy relating to education, skills, research and technology transfer. This will provide the opportunity for business and institutions to influence the profile of the region and may also provide the potential impetus for the region to become recognised internationally as a centre for excellence for the food and related industries. A model has been developed and the Agency along with its partners are currently developing an action plan to take the project forward.

Rural Priority Areas in England
Rural Priority Areas in England

Rural Priority Areas
At present the RDAs' rural programme spending is concentrated in the Rural Priority Areas (RPAs) defined in 1994 as being the areas of greatest need. 1991 Census figures were weighted together with unemployment statistics to create measures reflecting poverty and social exclusion. The RPAs cover about a third of rural England, as shown in the map above. Work will shortly begin to review the areas to ensure they remain a valid guide for spending priorities, and both the RDAs and the Countryside Agency will be involved in the review.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.3.4. A specific task for the RDAs is to help regenerate deprived rural areas, focusing currently on the Rural Priority Areas (see box) - the most seriously deprived rural areas. Problems vary from area to area, and each must develop its own solutions. The RDAs presently operate Rural Development Programmes in each Area in partnership with local authorities, Rural Community Councils and other key local players depending on the nature of the area covered by the partnership. The partnerships generate projects dealing with a wide range of issues ranging from job creation to workspace, renovation of buildings and better local infrastructure, support for tourism and combating the various aspects of social disadvantage found in rural areas. Together these programmes spend £29m a year. Within this programme we have expanded the Redundant Building Grant scheme to included an extra £4m for farmers. This has been heavily oversubsribed and will continue for another two years.

7.3.5. The challenge for the RDAs on rural regeneration projects has been to combine a range of different funding streams to the best effect. For example EEDA's rural programme of £1.4m in 1999-00 has leveraged a total programme of £12.8m for Rural Priority Areas in Eastern England. Rural areas have benefited substantially from other RDA programmes. 5-9% of the Single Regeneration Budget is currently required to be spent for the benefit of rural areas. (In SRB Round 5 this meant some £70m being directed to rural areas over the programme period and in SRB 6 some £60m). The Land and Property Programme funded, for example, work in market towns such as Great Torrington in Devon where, led by a Community Development Trust, refurbishment of a listed pannier market and conversion of a disused hotel has provided a new visitor attraction, ‘Torrington 1646', tourist centre, ICT training suite and a better library. The European Structural Funds (see annex) will also continue to be a major source of support for rural as well as urban regeneration, and to which the Government - both directly and via local authorities - will contribute considerable match funding during 2000-06. For example this will generate around £300m for rural areas under Objective 2 over this period.

Case study ø waterways-led regeneration
Inland waterways can make a major contribution to rural regeneration. Restoring canals and redeveloping derelict waterside land can provide scope for waterways based rural enterprises and an attractive environment for new development. Waterways for Tomorrow sets out the Government's vision for our inland waterways. An example is the Ripon Canal and waterfront. British Waterways, along with partners including the local authority, private companies, canal society and Environment Agency, have successfully regenerated Ripon's historic waterfront and breathed new life into this area of the historic Yorkshire market town. A successful restoration of the Ripon Canal in 1997 allowed boats to reach the canal terminus basin for the first time in many years. Sensitive redevelopment of the area around the basin has led to new housing and four business units being established on the site, bringing new jobs and additional prosperity to the local community. A former gravel pits site has also now been turned into an 80-berth marina.

EU funds for rural community development
The EU initiative LEADER+ will involve local communities in developing and testing innovative approaches to integrated and sustainable rural development. MAFF has been working closely with national, regional and local partners in developing and implementing this initiative. Following consultation, an England Programme, which will receive about £35m during 2000-06, will shortly be submitted to the European Commission.

Working in Partnership
Partnership working is at the heart of rural spending. In each Rural Priority Area a Rural Development Programme Committee involves a range of core partners - the RDA, local authorities, TECs, English Partnerships, Rural Community Councils and others as appropriate, such as the Countryside Agency, Tourist Boards, Business Links, and FRCA. Together they are responsible for developing a strategy for the area which identifies needs, opportunities and resources and sets objectives and a framework for action. These strategies are translated into action via three-year rolling operating plans and funding bids which set out specific projects or proposals for tackling issues.

Partnership working is of course not confined to the RPAs, and an example of a wider partnership is provided by the recently created South Holland Rural Action Zone in Lincolnshire. This focuses on the local RPA and adjacent rural areas, and aims to attack rural problems in the broad via an approach similar to that used in urban areas by New Deal for Communities programmes. Work will therefore tackle a wide range of issues from poor transport and other infrastructure to low wage levels, skills deficits and agricultural diversification. The breadth of the aims is reflected in the range of partners, who include South Holland DC, Lincolnshire CC, Government Office East Midlands, East Midlands Development Agency, the Countryside Agency, MAFF, Lincolnshire TEC Group, Lincolnshire Health, South Lincs Community Health NHS Trust, De Montfort University, Foodnet and voluntary sector groups.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.3.6. Regional Development Agencies have agreed a new rural remit as set out below.

  • We are asking the RDAs to take forward the implementation of the policies set out in this White Paper as a key component in the updating and development of their Regional Strategies and Frameworks for Action.

A new rural vision for the Regional Development Agencies
The RDAs' primary aim for rural areas is to ensure a dynamic local economy and vibrant communities able to respond to changes in traditional industries such as agriculture and mining and to contribute positively to the regional and national economy. RDAs will work with local and regional partners to:

Help rural business through

  • Raising the level of new business formation in remote rural areas and diversifying the economic base by stimulating innovation and competitiveness;
  • Increasing the number of rural product and speciality food businesses; stimulating rural tourism and adding value to rural products and services through further processing or via regional and sub-regional branding, marketing and promotion;
  • Developing better business to business links by stimulating the use of Information and

Communications Technology.

  • Ensuring that the Small Business Service (SBS) providers are equipped to respond to the specific needs of rural small business. Create viable rural communities and better links between town and country through
  • Identifying and taking action to address rural deprivation
  • Delivering a programme of strategic market towns regeneration;
  • Improving service delivery, encouraging multiuse facilities and innovative service delivery;
  • Working to remove barriers to business creation and survival;
  • Providing improved access to education, training and retraining opportunities to enable rural communities to update their skills and adapt to change;
  • Improving transport links between urban and rural areas.

Encourage sustainable development through

  • Recognising the value of the environment as an economic asset to be used sustainably;
  • Ensuring development is appropriate and occurs in areas which are able to support it;
  • Supporting sustainable best practice through funding, example and guidance.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

Future funding of Regional Development Agencies

7.3.7. The RDAs are now being given even more scope to boost their regions economies. In the Spending Review 2000 we have announced a commitment to boost their overall funding over the three years from April 2001 and give them much greater freedom on how to achieve their regional strategies. A single budget will now be created for the RDAs from 2002. The RDAs currently receive £1.2bn a year. This will rise to £1.7bn a year by 2003-04.

7.3.8. Following the Spending Review 2000, the RDAs will also operate the Regional Innovation Fund which will benefit rural as well as urban areas. The RDAs will have £50m per year between them to promote innovative activity in their regions. This will encompass the existing Innovative Clusters Fund (ICF) which aims to help business do better as part of a cluster of interdependent firms, particularly through transfer of ideas and sharing a common labour pool.

  • We are supporting several clusters which focus wholly or partly on rural areas. For example, a Food Technology Transfer Centre and an Organic Demonstration Farm, both in Cornwall, are featured in the South West of England Development Agency's business plan for cluster development, submitted in response to the DTI's initiative. The allocation for the second year is now under discussion with RDA chairmen, and we expect further rurally-based proposals to come forward, in accordance with the priorities identified in the RDAs' Strategies.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.3.9. We have created a new Phoenix Fund of over £100m. The Fund is aimed at helping promote enterprise in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and groups, including those in rural areas. Financial assistance is going to the Business Volunteer Mentoring Association (BVMA), Community Finance Initiatives and a wide range of innovative projects which encourage entrepreneurship as a means of tackling social exclusion.

7.3.10. Financial assistance for small businesses with growth potential at the lower end of the risk capital market will be boosted through the Government's provision of £180m to the Enterprise Fund, which included continuation of the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme, and the development of the new Regional Venture Capital Funds in each of the English regions. A further £100m to develop the risk capital market was announced in the March 2000 Budget.

Case study ø DALE ø Dales Action for Local Enterprise

This pilot project looks specifically at the issue of rural disadvantage faced by young people in remote areas who lack job and business opportunities and, as a result, find it hard to either remain in rural areas, progress within them, or find a voice or role in the wider community.

The Project

  • The project builds on a Prince's Trust model to provide outreach and support for a new initiative in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, targeted at 18-30 year olds, and providing grant and loan support for business start-up.
  • The emphasis is on industry/business that is particularly suited to or sustainable in rural areas, and on businesses that grow out of rural area activity.
  • Reflecting its remote rural base, the project includes local and non-Dales business mentors, and setting up a Dales Youth Business Forum and providing a virtual business park.
  • There is a bespoke training package focussed on the business problems encountered in rural areas and IT support and facilities provided to each new business.

The Objectives

  • To pilot approaches to tackle underemployment and unemployment for 18-30 year olds in remote rural areas.
  • To reduce the drift of population away from the area.
  • To address the lack of local access to information about, and support for, new employment/business initiatives.
  • To provide peer group support
  • To provide capital for micro-business start-up.
  • To raise possibly low aspirations about ability and potential of business sector.

Funding and Outputs

  • The project has been set up for five years from 2000, with the first three years funded by the Prince's Trust, the Countryside Agency, Yorkshire Forward, European grant aid and private sector support from Lockheed Martin and Scarborough Property Group.

7.4. A key rural industry: tourism

7.4.1. Tourism income is fundamental for the rural economy and has played a central role in revitalising many small towns and their surrounding areas and there is considerable potential for further growth. In its report PIU noted that expenditure by visitors to the countryside supported 380,000 jobs across rural England and underpinned 25,000 usually small, tourism businesses, including around 40% of England's total accommodation stock. Day visitors are estimated to spend £8bn in the English countryside in a year.

7.4.2. The benefits of tourism, however, are spread unevenly across the country and through different seasons. In a few popular areas there are adverse effects from the high number of visitors. Future potential is likely to reflect growing demand for taking more short breaks (of less than four nights), seeking distinctive experiences rooted in local and regional culture, enjoying more specialist activities and demanding higher quality accommodation and tourism services. Tourism can also help other rural industries. Businesses who provide eating and catering services for tourists are well placed to promote regional food and drink products, benefiting local food producers, as well as improving the interest of an area to visitors.

7.4.3. As set out in Tomorrow's Tourism our strategy is to: provide the right policy framework for sustainable tourism to flourish - for example, by creating the English Tourism Council to provide strategic leadership for the industry; to support promotional activity to develop and spread quality - for example, by launching new harmonised quality ratings for hotels, guest accommodation and holiday parks; and to encourage sustainable growth in tourism through a wider spread of tourism related development and projects including developing a new strategy to regenerate traditional seaside resorts.

7.4.4. We are looking to the Regional Development Agencies and Regional Tourist Boards to develop joint tourism and recreation strategies. Many are already doing so. For instance, Yorkshire Forward and the Yorkshire Tourist Board have jointly led the development of the new Yorkshire brand, which was launched in June. Regional Planning Bodies also have a role to play in helping to ensure that these strategies are sustainable and in their subsequent implementation. To follow up the national strategy in Tomorrow's Tourism we think there is a need for a strategy in rural areas. We believe that such a strategy is necessary to improve the quality of the visitor experience and increase income and employment, while at the same time enhancing the quality of the environment and spreading the benefits of tourism throughout rural communities.

  • The English Tourism Council and the Countryside Agency will produce a joint rural tourism strategy in 2001, to provide a clear focus for national, regional and local action. It will consider:
    • Creative promotion of rural tourism products and destinations, to increase awareness of what rural England has to offer amongst overseas and domestic visitors.
    • Action to bring out the distinctiveness of different rural areas and encourage more visitor spending to be retained locally, such as through the promotion of local produce. Better advisory services and training, backed by research, to help existing and potential businesses understand more clearly the market opportunities and avoid over supply.
    • Greater co-operation between rural tourism businesses, to assist joint marketing and the sharing of good practice.
    • Sound management of rural destinations, including improving visitor information, encouraging alternative means of transport, and reflecting the special roles of market towns and protected areas.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.4.5. We are considering the extent to which our current planning guidance that affects rural tourism needs revision. We are about to consult on revisions to our planning guidance on sport and recreation (PPG17). We will shortly be publishing a research report on planning for leisure and tourism and in the light of the debate on its findings we will decide whether our planning guidance on tourism needs revision.

Tourist charges
A more difficult question raised in the Rural Economies PIU report is whether tourists should be asked to contribute directly to local economies through some form of tourist tax or other payment, particularly in the so-called ‘honeypot' areas which attract large numbers of tourists. Voluntary charge schemes are already used in hotels and restaurants around the country. For instance, almost 100 Cumbrian hotels and caravan parks raise money for the Lake District Tourism and Conservation partnership by adding an optional £1 to tourists' bills. The partnership funds local environmental protection projects such as footpath repair and woodland management. The PIU report suggested extending visitor charging schemes on a voluntary or mandatory basis. The Government considers it right to maintain the present voluntary approach, rather than introducing new legislation which could be complex and burdensome.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.5. Dealing with distance and raising skill levels

Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

7.5.1. ICT is already playing a central role in widening the economic base in rural areas, enabling the smallest business to market globally with potential environmental benefits as travel needs are reduced. But the ability of rural businesses to take advantage of the new opportunities is currently limited by poorer communications infrastructure in rural areas and particularly the absence of broadband (see box) together with a low level of awareness and lack of relevant skills. There is also a need to manage potentially undesirable impacts of ICT such as the need for new radio masts to deliver mobile telephone coverage.

What is Broadband?
Broadband is a service or connection allowing a considerable amount of information to be conveyed. It is generally defined as a connection capable of delivering data at speeds of 2 megabytes per second (2MB/s) or faster, the minimum bandwidth necessary to deliver real time video. Consumer services needing broadband connections include high speed internet access and video-on-demand. Businesses may need broadband connections for a variety of data transfer functions. Broadband communications networks will increasingly become available through land based cables (BT and cable), wireless access, and third generation mobile telephones. Satellite systems are also being developed and terrestrial and satellite digital TV systems will provide certain types of interactive services at high speed.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.5.2. The Government will stimulate and promote industry investment in higher bandwidth services so that as many people as possible can get faster access to the internet and other information services. But the market alone will not deliver affordable high-speed connections to all rural areas. We will therefore work through the development agencies in the regions, and in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales to develop effective strategies for the rollout of higher bandwidth services in rural areas, taking full advantage of public sector investment and the opportunities, in some regions, to obtain EU funding. Other stakeholders will also be involved, to ensure that access to broadband services reaches as widely as practicable. We will ask the Countryside Agency to monitor the rollout of broadband in rural areas, and we will take this into account in developing policy.

7.5.3. We are also examining the case for requiring the communications industry to make higher bandwidth services available universally, as they already do for telephone services. The case for such a Universal Service Obligation (USO) to ensure that everyone has access to more rapid digital services may become more compelling as rollout of these services accelerates and as more of the services necessary for full participation in modern society, particularly public services, are delivered electronically. However, neither we nor the European Commission think it would be right to take such an initiative at such an early stage in the rollout of higher bandwidth services. If the market fails over time to deliver a reasonable level of broadband in rural areas, then we will revisit our position on the Universal Service Obligation in this light.

  • We will encourage RDAs to include plans within their ICT strategies to ensure that rural businesses have adequate access to training and business advice on ICT (perhaps through rural ICT access centres) and that the rural workforce has the requisite skills drawing on work of the new Small Business Service and Learning and Skills Councils;
  • We aim to provide an Electronic Rural Portal for farming (as announced at the Farming Summit at No 10 Downing Street on 30 March 2000). This will provide a first-stop shop access to information and interactive advice for farmers, the public and businesses generally. The design will be sufficiently flexible to broaden the service to become a full rural portal in due course. Subject to the outcome of the current feasibility study, expected shortly, it is anticipated that a prototype will be developed by early-2001. A fully interactive site, enabling farmers and others in the rural community to undertake a range of electronic transactions with government and private sector bodies, is expected to be developed by end-2002. MAFF has committed to making all CAP scheme forms available electronically by 2002. The study will draw upon experience gained from the CLICK Project.

Case study - connecting up farmers
CLICK (Connecting to the Local ICT Centre at Kington) is a pilot project in Kington, Herefordshire, to link farmers and their families to existing IT facilities which was announced as part of the Farming Summit package. The pilot scheme targets around 100 farmers, some with and some without PCs, and aims to encourage farmers and their families to gain access to ICT and the necessary skills training in its use. By electronically integrating all the information already held by MAFF about the farm, farmers are beginning to reap the benefits of time saving in making claims. It is hoped that this will expand with further marketing initiatives for farmers in the near future. The project is being developed by MAFF in partnership with Advantage West Midlands (RDA) and the Kington Connected Community Company (www.kc3.co.uk) which has IT facilities in Kington, and has the support of the Government Office West Midlands and the Countryside Agency.
More information about the project and a chance to see how it works can be found on www.click.maff.gov.uk

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

Transport Infrastructure

7.5.4. Physical isolation and poor access can be a barrier to the growth of rural economies. Chapter 6 describes the measures we are taking to improve transport within rural areas. But the Government's new £180bn 10 Year Plan for transport will also help improve the links between many rural areas and other parts of the country. The substantial increase in funding to modernise our national transport networks will improve road and rail access for both passengers and freight, bringing direct benefits for rural economies.

7.5.5. Among the benefits we expect to see as a result of the 10 Year Plan are:

  • A major programme of investment in the road network, with targeted improvements at bottlenecks and junctions, widening schemes, by-passes and better maintenance and traffic management, resulting in reduced congestion despite traffic growth;
  • Increased capacity and improved services on our railways, resulting in a 50% increase in passenger numbers and an 80% increase in rail freight volumes;
  • Improved access to ports and airports, and to areas in need of regeneration.

7.5.6. Past under-investment has brought local roads to their worst condition for 30 years. Sufficient additional resources have been provided through the 10 Year Plan to halt the deterioration by 2004, and eliminate the backlog by the end of the Plan period. This will be of particular benefit to rural roads where condition has been below standard for long periods.

7.5.7. Funding will be directed to regional and local priorities through the new Regional Transport Strategies and statutory Local Transport Plans. The 10 Year Plan will also provide the resources to implement the findings of the programme of Multi-Modal Studies, which is currently looking at some of our most important transport corridors, such as the links between London and the South West (see box).

Improving Access to the Southwest
The London to South West and South Wales Multi-Modal Study will be looking to find solutions to strategic transport problems along this key transport corridor. For the first time, we will be examining access to and from the South West peninsula along the main routes from Bristol and London. The aim of the study is to reduce delays, reduce journey times and improve the reliability of both rail and road travel. Access to the rural counties of Devon and Cornwall is constrained by congestion at a number of motorway junctions, and by the single carriageway sections of the A303, where safety is a particular problem. There are problems of capacity on both the rail routes to the South West. The study is looking at the need for improvements on the A30, A303 and A38, at ways of reducing congestion on the M4/M5, and at increasing the capacity of the parallel rail routes from London to Penzance and Waterloo to Exeter. It will also examine the impact of tourism on these key routes, and will recommend action plans to reduce the impact of seasonal traffic whilst safeguarding both the local and regional economies. The study will also focus on the freight needs of the area.
Road haulage

7.5.8. Businesses in rural areas including farmers face higher transport costs and will benefit from the measures affecting hauliers announced in the Pre-Budget Report 2000, reducing Vehicle Excise Duty, introducing a freeze on fuel duties and cutting the duty on ultra low sulphur diesel. For example, the reforms to lorry VED will generate around £265m benefit to the haulage industry this year and around £300m from next year.

  • The measures announced in the Pre-Budget Report 2000 represent a cost reduction of £750m annually for the road haulage industry and this will benefit the competitiveness of rural economies.
Action to raise the skills base

7.5.9. Education and training are one of our major priorities for the country as a whole, rural as well as urban, and we are establishing a national network of Learning and skills Councils in April 2001 (see annex) to streamline the delivery of post 16 education and training. Our aim will be to ensure that the new councils (which will work closely with the RDAs) take full account of rural needs and the special problems of rural areas.

  • We will ensure that rural users are included in rural Local Learning Partnerships in which local organisations and individuals help to meet the skill challenge, improve standards and increase participation;
  • The plans of Local Learning and Skills Councils will consider the needs of those who have difficulty in accessing learning opportunities (including travel difficulties). This will be particularly important for rural areas. Resources for access funds have been greatly increased. LSCs will have discretionary funds to support new initiatives and pump-priming for small projects.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.5.10. Farmers will be eligible for training through the England Rural Development Programme (see 8.3.4).

Improving business skills in rural areas
The PIU report identified a particular need to develop business skills in rural areas. The University for Industry (Ufi) concept, which will become fully operational under the brand name learndirect in autumn 2000, will have a particular role in overcoming barriers to learning including the problems of sparsity and distance which are relevant to rural areas. Ufi will open up access to learning through brokering high quality on-line learning products and services and will make them available at home, in the workplace and at learndirect learning centres nation-wide. Ufi, which already has a remit in the area of SMEs, has decided that there is a general lack of learning in the area of business skills among SMEs. Ufi intend to concentrate on developing appropriate business materials to target this market and make them available through flexible delivery mechanisms to improve access. More than 60% of Ufi learning materials, under the brand name ‘learndirect', will be available on-line during the autumn. This figure is expected to rise to up to 90% by 2003. Ufi and its network of learndirect centres will work closely with Business Link allowing people to both access and continue their learning opportunities from home, in the centres or even at work.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

7.6. Helping rural businesses to succeed

7.6.1. Small businesses continue to be the main enterprises in rural areas and we will support them and the start up of new businesses through better advice and support; cutting unnecessary red tape; and other initiatives to encourage enterprise and innovation such as rural rate relief and RDA enterprise funds (see paragraph 7.3.9.). The annex sets out additional sources of funding and advice for small business in rural areas.

Improving business advice and support

7.6.2. The new Small Business Service (see annex) is setting up a new network of customer focused Business Links which will place a greater emphasis on micro-business than before. The Countryside Agency has taken part in the process to set up the network, in particular, looking at how the organisations which are running outlets with rural areas in their catchment give access to their customers. New communications technology will help provide advice in the remoter rural areas, and the Small Business Service, along with the Regional Development Agencies and Learning and Skills Councils will work to encourage educational institutions to develop the take up of IT.

  • The Small Business Council (SBC) has been established to advise on the needs of small businesses and the effect of the activities of Government on existing and potential SMEs. The SBC is considering setting up a Rural Issues sub-group.
  • To help farmers and growers respond to changing market demand and changes in their industry the government is providing, through Business Links, tailored business advice. The service will include an initial health check of their business and the production of an Action Plan. This will help them develop better business practices and take strategic decisions about the future of their business which could include diversification or leaving the industry. They will then be helped to access other sources of advice and support. The service was launched on 10 October 2000 and will continue until 2004 providing up to £21m of advice allowing 15,000 farmers to benefit.

Case study - North and Western Lancashire Personal Business Adviser
A rural Personal Business Adviser (PBA) is working with agricultural and non-agricultural clients in North and Western Lancashire to enable them to develop opportunities for diversification and growth. In addition to building a continuing client working relationship the Rural PBA acts as a central point of contact for all Partner services such as the North West Tourist Board, European Assisted Initiatives and Local Authorities as well as the services available from the Business Link. Through the work of the Rural PBA a Business Support Centre is being set up in Garstang to offer counselling for start-ups and for farmers wishing to diversify. Particular success has come from working with planners and rural businesses through planning surgeries.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

Better regulation and less red tape

7.6.4. We are committed to minimising regulatory burdens on small businesses in order to help them realise their potential. For example we are preparing legislation to modernise our liquor and public entertainment licensing laws and considering how to streamline the fire safety legislation. Both should help rural business. Chapter 8 (section 5) sets out the action we are taking on regulation of the farming industry including a review of environmental legislation

7.6.5. One of the key tasks of the Small Business Service will be to focus on cutting red tape - eliminating unnecessary regulation, minimising the burdens imposed by necessary regulation, such as encouraging higher standards of enforcement and, making sure that the interests of small firms are properly considered. We have also set up a panel which will call Ministers to account for their performance on minimising regulation.

Rate relief

7.6.6. Many small businesses in market towns and other rural areas occupy premises with lower rateable values, including non-agricultural businesses on farms. These would all benefit from our proposals for rate relief for all small businesses.

  • We are consulting on proposals to reduce the rating burden on small businesses in the Green Paper Modernising Local Government Finance.We propose that relief of 50% would be available to small businesses occupying properties with rateable values less than £3,000. This would be gradually reduced so that 20% relief would be available to small businesses occupying properties with a rateable value of £6,000 and no relief would be given to properties with a rateable value above £8,000. In the current year this would amount to a saving of £624 for a business with a rateable value of £3,000; and a saving of £492 for a business with a rateable value of £6,000.

See progress towards this commitment in the Rural White Paper Implementation Plan

[ Previous ] [ Contents ] [ Next ]

Page last modified: 19 May, 2005
Page published: 28 November, 2000

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs