A report said that rural estates were experiencing a renaissance of innovation and entrepreneurship, which was helping to regenerate rural communities.
Source: Rural Estate Sustainability: Leading by example, Forum for the Future (020 7251 6070)
Links: Report | Forum for Future press release
Date: 2006-Aug
The Northern Ireland Executive began consultation on the new rural development programme, due to run from 2007 to 2013.
Source: Consultation on the Draft Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme 2007-2013, Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2006-Jun
A study in a rural area found that local foods were flourishing since an application to build a superstore had been turned down. Local food, shops, and jobs - linking people with the places and landscapes where they lived - had all increased.
Source: Caroline Cranbrook, The Real Choice: How local foods can survive the supermarket onslaught, Campaign to Protect Rural England (020 7981 2800)
Links: Report | CPRE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
An article examined policies supporting rural economic development in the mid-Wales region.
Source: Nerys Fuller-Love, Peter Midmore, Dennis Thomas and Andrew Henley, 'Euro-commentary: scenario analysis and regional economic development', European Urban and Regional Studies, Volume 13 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
An article said that there were statistically significant differences in the dynamics of low pay across urban and rural labour markets. Urban low-pay durations were somewhat shorter on average, with a higher probability of movement to a higher-paid job.
Source: Euan Phimister, Ioannis Theodossiou and Richard Upward, 'Is it easier to escape from low pay in urban areas? Evidence from the United Kingdom', Environment and Planning A, Volume 38 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
The Scottish Executive began consultation on rural development strategy over the period to 2013.
Source: Rural Development Programme for Scotland 2007-2013: The Strategic Plan, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Consultation document | SE press release
Date: 2006-Feb
The government began consultation on the framework to be used in England to distribute funds from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development during the period 2007-2013.
Source: Rural Development Programme for England 2007 2013, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (08459 556000)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2006-Feb
A report said that measures to boost the rural economy after the foot-and-mouth crisis of 2001 had failed.
Source: Andrew Donaldson, Richard Lee, Neil Ward and Katy Wilkinson, Foot and Mouth Five Years On: The legacy of the 2001 foot and mouth disease crisis for farming and the British countryside, Centre for Rural Economy/University of Newcastle (0191 222 6623)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Feb
The government set out (following consultation) the actions that it would take to support the English regions and their economies during the global financial crisis.
Source: Meeting the Economic Challenges in Every Region, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Report | Response to consultation | DCLG press release | LGA press release | Centre for Cities press release
Date: 2006-Jan
A paper said that rural communities were struggling to cope with an influx of migrant workers, despite the benefits they brought such as raising economic output and filling labour shortages and skill gaps.
Source: Migrant Worker Integration Group: Position Paper, Business in the Community (0870 600 2482)
Links: Report | RSN press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2006-Jan
A report examined the experiences of migrant workers based in rural areas, and the impact their presence had on local service providers. A hidden population of rural migrant workers was being exploited, partly because of a perception that migrant workers were an urban phenomenon.
Source: Home from Home? Experiences of migrant workers in rural parts of the UK, and the impact on local service providers, Citizens Advice (020 7833 2181)
Links: Report | Citizens Advice press release
Date: 2006-Jan
An audit of gangmasters supplying casual labour to the food and farming industry reportedly found that 90 per cent of them were breaking the law in some way.
Source: Audit by Temporary Labour Working Group, reported in The Guardian, 27 January 2006
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan