Rural communities will face disproportionately severe cuts in public services after the next election if Whitehall fails to recognise the unique challenges which rural communities face, according to new research from the Rural Services Network (RSN). With the cost of service delivery up to 90% higher than in urban areas, and lower average wages than their urban counterparts, the research highlights the damage which across-the-board budget cuts would inflict on rural England’s most vulnerable.

The RSN, a group of over 250 public and private sector service providers, has published The Rural Review of Public Services 2010 to review the present condition of rural services, drawing on the latest data and the local knowledge of its membership.

Coming hot on the heels of the Rural Services Manifesto 2010, launched in the first week of January, the review covers five main areas:

    * Public Transport
    * Primary Schools
    * Affordable Housing
    * Facilities for Young People
    * Support Services for Older People

 

Councillor Roger Begy OBE, Chairman of the RSN and Leader of Rutland County Council said:

“Rural Communities are set to bear the brunt of the fiscal squeeze. Due to the failure of Government funding formulae to recognise the costs of providing services across rural areas, many services survive on a shoestring, which means that even small cuts can seriously undermine them.

“This research shows that village schools are high quality and achieve good average test results, but many face the threat of reviews and possible closure.  Similarly, it finds evidence that public transport – which young and older people often rely on to reach key services, employment and leisure – has improved in many rural areas, but such gains are now at risk of being put into reverse.

“The research presented in this document needs to act as a stark warning to policy makers. A failure to appreciate the particular challenges faced by service providers in rural areas could be devastating, particularly where they serve the most vulnerable.

“Of course, rural communities should face their fair share of whatever the future holds – it would be unrealistic to expect anything else – but the low starting point of rural areas compared to urban must be factored in to decisions about how to share the pain”

Key countryside facts:

    * Costs of delivering services in sparsely populated areas up to 90% more expensive than rural areas
    * The number of older people in rural areas requiring some kind of social care is projected to grow by 70% over the next 20 years (much faster than in urban areas)
    * The average house in a rural area sold for £257,600 in 2007, some £45,000 higher than in urban areas
    * Roughly 50% of households in villages and hamlets are without a nearby regular bus services (an hourly or better service within 13 minutes walk).  This is down from 60% in the mid-1990s