Do rural communities face a ‘justice desert’?
Since the sealing of Magna Carta in 1215 to the creation of the Crown Court in the 1970s, each generation has updated or reformed the justice system. Meeting the needs of judges, magistrates, legal professionals, witnesses, victims, defendants, individual citizens and businesses is at the heart of the Government’s latest reforms for Courts. But what […]
Where the wild things are – a ‘future natural’ countryside?
Recent years have seen proposals to reintroduce lynx, wolves and bears into the countryside. The idea has captured the public imagination – but what does “rewilding” mean for rural communities? Jessica Sellick investigates. In 2011, I visited Ennerdale Valley – home to more than 100 species of wildlife, slopes lined with forest, open fell and […]
Will the government’s new industrial strategy benefit rural communities?
Industrial Strategy is back – Theresa May featured it in her leadership speech as an economic reform “to get the whole economy firing” and now the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) has been elevated to the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). What does this return to industry/business focused policy-making mean […]
How to make ‘rural data’ count
Rural-relevant data and statistics are scattered across different websites, in different formats, with different indicators. Data is often collected by (or on behalf of) a given organisation for a specific purpose without thinking about its wider applicability and significance. How can we bring together these scattered pieces of anomalous evidence and use them to make […]
Avoiding the rural unemployment cliff
Unemployment is falling, but many people are struggling. What can we do to help those people missing out on employment opportunities? And how can we make sure no one is left behind? Jessica Sellick investigates. The ‘employment rate’ is measured using the Labour Force Survey and is defined as the proportion of people aged 16-64 […]