Rural Proofing Investment

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Introduction

Where ChangeUp and Defra’s Infrastructure Investment are being delivered in an integrated way, it is particularly important to ensure that the specific needs of frontline VCS groups in rural areas do not get overlooked.

All consortia (except for those in entirely urban areas) should ensure that a process of rural proofing is established which is integral to decision making. This includes:

• consortia covering predominantly rural areas, where there may be tendency to focus on county towns and market towns to the detriment of smaller more isolated settlements,
• consortia covering areas of urban fringe where there may be a tendency to assume that fairly densely populated urban fringe areas have the same needs as the urban areas themselves.

What is rural-proofing?

Rural proofing is about encouraging people to think rural, by taking account of the special characteristics and needs of rural areas when making and implementing policies. It is about ensuring services are delivered in an appropriate manner to rural populations and businesses. In the context of VCS infrastructure issues, rural proofing means that organisations or partnerships should systematically consider:

• the needs of frontline VCS bodies in rural areas. These are likely to be different to the needs of VCS bodies in urban areas
• how infrastructure support might be tailored to meet these needs.

How to rural proof?

For the purposes of ChangeUp and Defra’s Infrastructure Investment programmes it is recommended that a formal rural proofing mechanism is established within each consortium. It is suggested that each consortium identifies an individual or group to run through the checklist below to help identify whether the consortium is addressing particular rural issues. This may need to be repeated at different stages in the development of the consortium and its activities. Where shortcomings are identified, the consortium will need to consider possible actions to produce the desired support for frontline VCS bodies in rural areas.

The rural proofing checklist for VCS infrastructure investment:

1. Appropriate consortia membership and contacts

While most consortia have members who represent rural areas, this alone will not ensure rural proofing. Consortia should consider the following:

• Whether rural representatives reflect the diversity between and within rural VCS bodies.
• The need for the consortium to have a system to support the membership of less well-resourced members, many of who may be representing rural VCS bodies.
• How the consortium can work with parish councils. Although parish councils are part of the statutory sector they have a unique role to play in stimulating VCS activity in rural areas. If there are significant patches of unparished areas the consortium may need to consider the impact of this on the programme and how it might be addressed.

2. Identifying the needs of frontline VCS groups in rural areas

The issues faced by frontline VCS groups in rural areas are usually significantly different to those of urban areas. They often include:

• difficulty in accessing funding streams many of which are targeted at geographic concentrations of deprivation;
• lack of a critical mass of population which makes a service less likely to be self financing as well as more costly to deliver;
• difficulties for workers in linking into VCS networks due to physical isolation;
• difficulties in reaching target audiences due to the dispersed nature of rural social exclusion;
• the importance of transport issues;
• attitudes such as a greater self reliance;
• less provision of public services and a corresponding greater reliance on services provided by the VCS;
• lack of profile of rural VCS needs with decision makers.

It is also important to remember that rural areas vary widely in their characteristics and in the administrative and political context within which they work. Therefore every consortium will need to identify the needs of the rural VCS groups in its area. Issues to consider include:

• Has there been any work to establish the views of frontline VCS bodies in rural areas? This might be in the form of surveys, workshops etc.
• Are links being made with other plans which are useful in identifying frontline rural VCS needs such as Parish Plans, Market Town Health
• Checks, Village Design Statements?
• Does the Infrastructure Development Plan contain an analysis of the needs of VCS bodies in rural areas and how they are different to urban areas?

3. Planning to meet the needs of rural VCS groups

Infrastructure support often needs to be tailored to be appropriate for rural areas. For example:

• there is potential for parish councils to stimulate and support VCS activity in their area
• IT issues can be particularly significant for rural VCS bodies
• there are ways of helping frontline rural VCS bodies reduce their costs by finding economies of scale perhaps through partnership working, through shared service outlets etc,
• a “whole community” approach can useful in rural areas rather than working with targeted groups
• the consortia may be able to work with funders to raise awareness of the issue of the “rural premium”

A rural proofed infrastructure development plan could include:

• a vision which describes the most appropriate forms of support needed for frontline VCS bodies in rural areas;
• a strategy for ensuring support for VCS bodies in rural areas, especially those working with socially excluded groups
• an action plan with clear outcomes and outputs for rural areas and a means of monitoring whether these have been achieved.
• links being made to other plans which can influence the provision of support for rural VCS groups eg community strategies, AONB or national park management plans, neighbourhood renewal strategies etc.

Further help in rural proofing VCS infrastructure investment

Further information about rural proofing can be found on the Countryside Agency website countryside.gov.uk

NCVO has a rural network which provides a quarterly newsletter, regular briefings and updates on NCVOs rural work and on the full range of issues relating to voluntary organisations operating in rural areas Further information can be obtained from ncvo-vol.org.uk

ACRE has also done some work on “The Characteristics of Rural Communities” and “The Functions of Good Rural Infrastructure”. For further information contact acre@acre.org.uk

Government Offices have been charged by Defra with ensuring that all consortia adopt a rural proofing process and are available to offer advice and support, sometimes through a contractual arrangement with a third party. They may decide to target support at helping newly formed consortia in urban / metropolitan / unitary areas to be able to address rural needs.