‘No decision about me, without me’?
With cottage hospitals under threat, a shortage of doctors and dentists, lack of out of hour’s services and ‘save our surgeries’ petition against the withdrawal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee; (rural) healthcare may become more patchy and rationed. At the same time, the Health and Social Care Act 2012 is intended to safeguard the […]
Is the rural ‘Big Society’ delivering?
Back in 2010, the Prime Minister launched the ‘Big Society’, heralding a culture change where people in their everyday lives would no longer always turn to Local Authorities or central Government for answers to the problems they faced, instead helping themselves and their own communities. With the future of many rural services – shops, post […]
A growing digital divide?
The internet is now an essential part of our everyday lives, with connectivity providing opportunities to reduce some of the issues facing rural communities. The demand for broadband services in rural areas often outstrips many urban places. Yet the task of connecting residents and businesses remains much greater in rural areas due to lower population […]
Making rural places to live and work
What makes a community sustainable? It is a question that sits at the heart of government policy and practitioner debates – the responses of which have very real consequences for rural residents and places. Jessica Sellick investigates. The notion of sustainable communities leaves much for decision makers and communities to think about. But ‘what makes […]
Making rural funding work better
‘Leader’ aims to provide an “integrated bottom up, community-led delivery of RDPE funding”. In England it is implemented by Local Action Groups (LAGs) and is targeted on rural areas with particular needs or priorities. In existence since 1991, and with negotiations around the 2014-2020 programme now intensifying, is Leader boosting the rural economy or is […]