Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to their response to the
report by the Select Committee on the Rural Economy Time for a
strategy for the rural economy (HL Paper 330, Session 2017-19),
what progress they have made towards their strategic vision for
rural communities.
I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order
Paper, and I draw attention to my interest in the register as
president of the Rural Coalition.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ()
(Con)
My Lords, our vision remains that rural communities should
prosper, benefiting from the full range of government policies
designed to level up opportunity and take the country forward.
Defra will shortly publish the first annual rural proofing report
on how the needs of rural areas are being addressed across all
domestic departments.
I thank the Minister for that reply. The Government’s commitment
to rural communities is welcome and, I am sure, forms a major
part of strategies such as the UK shared prosperity fund, the
Covid-related green recovery fund and the levelling-up agenda.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England noted the lack of funding
for rural areas in the comprehensive spending review. What actual
evidence do Her Majesty’s Government have that the rural proofing
promised in their response is making a real and significant
difference? Could the Minister give us some specific examples? If
not, could he write to me with those examples?
(Con)
My Lords, I think the best thing here is that I will be able—very
soon, I hope—to furnish the House with the first rural proofing
report. Following this House’s Select Committee report work has
been under way on the formation of a rural affairs board, and
indeed, because of Covid, the Rural Impacts Stakeholders Forum,
of which the CPRE is a member.
(Con)
My Lords, as we know, one size does not fit all when it comes to
our rural communities; Norfolk’s needs are not the same as
Cumbria’s. I ask my noble friend to ensure that the Government
take note of local data gathered together by community agencies
when they come to think of their infrastructure and other
policies that they want to make for these already very fragile
communities.
(Con)
My noble friend is right. Rural areas can be very different from
each other, and we believe that local people are often best
placed to judge what is right for their communities. For
instance, the Government provide grants of up to £18,000 to
groups that wish to pursue a neighbourhood plan. Defra itself
provides funding to the 38 rural community councils across
England.
(CB) [V]
My Lords, I declare my interests as listed in the register. I am
sure the Minister will agree that one of the greatest problems in
rural communities is employment. Therefore, with the Government
moving towards more environmentally friendly support for
agriculture, might there not be possibilities to employ more
people—for example, to do things that are labour intensive, such
as planting trees? Secondly, transport is essential for farm
workers. Have the Government thought about how the move to
electronic vehicles might impinge on the ability of farm workers,
who are on very low salaries, to buy these cars?
(Con)
My Lords, on the transport issue, on Tuesday the Department for
Transport launched a call for evidence to shape a future rural
transport strategy. I shall take back to the department what the
noble Lord said. On the economy, everything that we have been
doing, not only through the Covid crisis but throughout, is to
ensure that there are vibrant opportunities and indeed many small
and medium-sized enterprises in the countryside, which we wish to
support.
(Lab)
[V]
My Lords, today is Carers Rights Day. The latest research shows
that carers have had to take on huge extra responsibilities
during the pandemic. Their needs may be particularly acute in
rural areas as many voluntary and community services have simply
disappeared. Does the Minister agree that any rural policy must
make support for community and voluntary services that support
carers and those they care for an absolute priority?
(Con)
My Lords, I absolutely endorse that the work of carers throughout
our community has been absolutely profound during this crisis.
The Department of Health and Social Care is working on addressing
the main health and care inequalities—particularly, in this case,
as experienced by people in rural areas—and continuing to ensure
that a higher share of funding goes to geographies with high
health inequalities.
(LD) [V]
My Lords, the County Councils Network has recently conducted work
on the effect of Covid on the decline of the rural bus network.
The Government are committed to a rural bus strategy, but will
the Minister give assurance that consideration will be given to
providing a range of passenger transport services to provide
positive benefits to residents in rural areas?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government have provided £220 million of new
funding to support a better deal for bus users. This includes £20
million for the rural mobility fund to trial new on-demand
services and to improve existing services in rural and suburban
areas.
(Lab)
Askham Bryan College has stated its intention to close the Newton
Rigg agricultural college in Cumbria, saying that students may
wish to explore options at other colleges regionally. However,
Cumbria’s young people need to learn how to farm in Cumbria,
where its unique landscape brings unique challenges. Can the
Minister clarify that the Government support the ongoing needs of
agricultural and rural industries in Cumbria through the vital
and sustainable future of Newton Rigg College?
(Con)
I assure the noble Baroness that that is hugely important. We
agree that attracting bright new talent into agricultural and
horticultural careers and having a skilled workforce in place are
vital for the future of UK food and farming. My understanding on
Newton Rigg agricultural college is that the Department for
Education is looking at the matter very closely.
(Con)
[V]
My Lords, rural economies have untapped potential as well as
challenges. From living in a rural environment, I understand how
important our rural economy and personal well-being is. However,
there are concerns in particular about action on surface water
flood risk to homes and businesses. How are the Government
enforcing their drive to bring together all partners to improve
the management assessment of surface water flood risk to make our
rural places, infrastructure and growth more resilient to our
future climate?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government will double the amount we invest in the
flood and coastal defence programme in England to £5.2 billion
over six years from 2021. This will help to protect a further
336,000 properties, including 290,000 homes.
(CB)
[V]
My Lords, my interests are as recorded in the register. Yesterday
the Chancellor reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the
long-awaited shared prosperity fund, which the right reverend
Prelate mentioned. Can the Minister confirm that there will be a
committed element of the fund dedicated to the rural economy, as
recommended in the report Time for a Strategy for the Rural
Economy?
(Con)
My Lords, I confirm that the UK shared prosperity fund will take
into account the specific needs of rural communities and will
help to support investment in rural infrastructure as well as
rural businesses.
(Lab)
[V]
I declare my interests as stated in the register. With increasing
numbers of people wanting to both live and work in the
countryside, what steps are Her Majesty’s Government proposing to
take to ensure that rural areas are not left behind in the
rollout of 5G as they were with broadband?
(Con)
That is absolutely why we are investing and working with the £5
billion programme to support the rollout of gigabit-capable
broadband, as well as the joint investment of over £1 billion in
the shared rural network on mobile, both of which are extremely
important. It is the case that 5G is a continuing challenge for
the hard-to-reach areas, and that is what we want to work on in
particular.
(LD)
My Lords, given the Minister’s very clear promise to the
committee that I had the privilege to chair that there would be
robust rural proofing of all government policies, how does he
explain the clear absence of rural proofing in the Government’s
recent proposals on changes to the current planning system, which
will have a devastating and disproportionate effect on the
provision of affordable homes across rural England?
(Con)
My Lords, affordable homes are clearly important, including in
rural communities. Two consultations are going on at the
moment—on changes to the current planning system and planning for
the future. We in Defra will work closely with our MHCLG
colleagues on the matter.
(Con)
My Lords, in their reply to the committee chaired by the noble
Lord, , the
Government said:
“The Minister for Rural Affairs … is specifically charged with
ensuring that the needs of rural areas are taken into account
across all government business.”
How many meetings has the Minister had with fellow Ministers, and
what further meetings does he propose to have to combat the sort
of unintended problems that the noble Lord, Lord Foster, has just
mentioned?
(Con)
I have many meetings; I have had meetings on digital, on crime
and on a range of other issues. As I mentioned, as part of the
response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we formed a rural impact
stakeholder forum comprising many of the key stakeholders we work
with, so that we could we in Defra could respond to other
Whitehall departments about the specific dynamic of
difficulties—for instance, with the pandemic—in rural areas. I
continue to work on that. The stakeholder forum was meeting
weekly; it now meets fortnightly. That work, as well as the work
of the rural affairs board, is very important.
