A report examined what income rural households needed in order to afford the same standard of living as their urban counterparts. Although some things could be cheaper for rural households (such as leisure activities for primary school children) this was unusual. Most household requirements were the same for rural as for urban families. However, there were critical differences that meant, overall, that all rural households faced additional costs.
Source: Noel Smith, Abigail Davis and Donald Hirsch, A Minimum Income Standard for Rural Households, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | JRF press release | NFU press release | Morning Star report
Date: 2010-Nov
A report (by an official advisory body) examined the experiences of being unemployed in four rural areas in England where local labour markets were characterized by limited, insecure, and low-skilled employment.
Source: Losing Your Job in Rural England: Summary report, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency
Links: Link removed
Date: 2010-Nov
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published a business plan for the period 2011-2015.
Source: Business Plan 2011-2015, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Links: Plan
Date: 2010-Nov
A paper said that children and young people living in the countryside faced isolation, poor housing, and inadequate transport links – among other problems.
Source: Child in the Countryside: A Challenging Reality, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency
Links: Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Oct
A report examined the factors influencing rural migration decisions in Scotland, and the implications for policy. It focused on factors related to age and/or life-stage.
Source: Helena Crow, Factors Influencing Rural Migration Decisions in Scotland: An analysis of the evidence, Scottish Government
Date: 2010-Sep
A study (for an official advisory body) examined the depth and impact of rural fuel poverty in England. Fuel-poor rural households were more likely to suffer from cold-related illnesses such as asthma and respiratory disease than non-fuel-poor rural households. Most of these households had to ration their fuel in winter, which could aggravate their poor health further. Not being able to afford to heat their homes and getting into fuel debt also showed up as significant issues.
Source: Rural Services Network, Understanding the Real Depth and Impact of Fuel Poverty in Rural England, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency
Links: Report | RSN Online report
Date: 2010-Sep
A report said that rural villages in England were at risk of dying without radical action to secure their future. Rural services were at risk from spending cuts, housing threatened to out-price all but the wealthiest, while rural wages lagged as much as 20 per cent behind urban averages.
Source: The Rural Challenge: Achieving sustainable rural communities for the 21st century, The Rural Coalition
Links: Report | CLA press release | CPRE press release | CRC press release | LGA press release | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Aug
A report (by an official advisory body) said that a programme of integrated policies was needed to protect hill communities in England and the upland landscape.
Source: High Ground, High Potential: A future for England's upland communities, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency
Links: Report | CRC press release | CPRE press release | NFU press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Jun
A report said that the existing planning system acted as a brake on appropriate and much needed development in the countryside in the misplaced belief that this supported communities and the environment.
Source: Planning for Change in the Countryside, Country Land & Business Association
Links: Report | CLA press release
Date: 2010-Jun
The new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government announced that the Commission for Rural Communities – an official advisory body representing rural communities – would be scrapped.
Source: Written Ministerial Statement 29 June 2010, columns 36-37WS, House of Commons Hansard/TSO
Links: Hansard | DEFRA press release | CPRE press release | CLBA press release | New Start report
Date: 2010-Jun
An article examined inequalities in health outcomes in rural areas. For the 2001-2007 period, life expectancy at birth in England was 76.9 years for males and 81.3 years for females. However, when deprivation was examined, results between the most deprived and least deprived quintiles varied by 7.8 years for men and 5.4 years for women. Overall, life expectancy was higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
Source: Lynsey Kyte and Claudia Wells, 'Variations in life expectancy between rural and urban areas of England, 2001-07', Health Statistics Quarterly 46, Summer 2010, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article | Guardian report
Date: 2010-May
A report (by an official advisory body) said that the long-term future of the countryside was in jeopardy because so many young people were being forced out of rural areas in order to find homes, jobs, and support.
Source: State of the Countryside Update: Children and Educational Services, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency
Links: Report | CRC press release | Guardian report | New Start report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Mar
A survey examined four communities in 'deep rural' Wales. 94 per cent of respondents rated their quality of life as either 'very good' or 'fairly good'. But 36 per cent of residents rated general service provision in their local area as 'poor' or 'very poor'. 63 per cent rated the provision of hospitals as 'poor' or 'very poor'.
Source: Deep Rural Localities, Wales Rural Observatory
Links: Report | Summary | BBC report
Date: 2010-Mar
A report examined the quality of life of older people living in rural areas of Northern Ireland.
Source: Deirdre Heenan, Rural Ageing in Northern Ireland: Quality of life amongst older people, Northern Ireland Executive
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Mar
An article examined whether rural crime concern was evidence of an 'exclusive society' in the countryside.
Source: Richard Yarwood, 'An exclusive countryside? Crime concern, social exclusion and community policing in two English villages', Policing and Society, Volume 20 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Mar
A report examined the depth and impact of fuel poverty in rural England, and its effect on consumers, service providers, and the local economy.
Source: Rural Services Network, Understanding the Real Depth and Impact of Fuel Poverty in Rural England, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Feb
An article reported an exercise to generate alternative future scenarios for rural England. The exercise identified predominant contemporary trends affecting England's rural areas, differentiated them geographically, and projected them forward using formal modelling. The analysis suggested that in-migrant commuters and retirees were likely to be the major forces affecting rural social geography in the future.
Source: Philip Lowe and Neil Ward, 'England's rural futures: a socio-geographical approach to scenarios analysis', Regional Studies, Volume 43 Number 10
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Feb
A report (by an official advisory body) examined economic well-being and its relevance to rural communities, public policy-makers, and service delivery organizations. It also described 13 good practice economic well-being case studies that helped to illuminate the concept of economic well-being at a local level.
Source: Understanding Economic Well-Being, Commission for Rural Communities/Countryside Agency
Links: Report | Guidance | CRC press release
Date: 2010-Jan