What’s in the rural economy review?

£100 million will be invested in growing rural businesses through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE)

• From February, grants of up to £1 million or more will boost competiveness and support growth of small and medium sized rural businesses in farming, agri-food, tourism, forestry, renewable energy and high growth sectors. The Rural Economy Grant Scheme will be worth up to £60 million in total.

• From summer 2012, £20 million will be available to further develop the skills of the agricultural, food, forestry and other rural sectors. This flexible and locally targeted programme of activity is designed to improve the competitiveness of rural businesses bydeveloping both technical and entrepreneurial skills.

• Farmers, foresters and horticulturalists are invited to apply for grants to adopt resource efficient ways of working that will boost their profits. Launched earlier this month, the £20 million Farming and Forestry Improvement scheme will provide match funded grants of between £2,500 and £25,000.

Launch of a £20 million Rural Community Broadband Fundto support the roll out superfast broadband

• Rural communities located in hard to reach superfast broadband areas (as defined in their Local Broadband Plan) are invited to apply to the Rural Community Broadband Fund to extend superfast broadband to the remotest areas. Applicants must be a formally constituted group and may include a charitable trusts, charity, or private business (non Internet Service Providers) or social enterprise.

• The £530 million Broadband Delivery UK programme aims to provide superfast broadband to 90 percent of every county with the remaining 10% to receive a minimum standard broadband of at least 2Mbps.The Rural Community Broadband Fund will target the 10 percent hardest to reach places and provide an opportunity for a superfast solution beyond the standard connection.

• The selection process for the Fund is competitive. Applications are welcomed from projects in, or due to be in, a 10% hard to reach location will be assessed against the following criteria.

1. Strategic Fit Does the project integrate with the wider development of Superfast broadband infrastructure in the area?

2. Value for Money Does the project demonstrate good value for money, based on a benchmark intervention of £300 per household/ business premise enabled for superfast broadband access?

3. Outcomes Has the application established a clear basis for need/ demand for Superfast (24Mbps and above) Broadband services through the Toolkit Data Book/Demand Survey? How many beneficiaries will benefit from the project?

4. Delivery Is the proposed technical solution realistic? Has the applicant demonstrated the required capacity, skills and financial resources to be able to deliver the proposed project? Is the project sustainable?

5. Upland Area Is the project located in an Uplands area (defined as a Significantly Disadvantaged Area)? Please note that applications are not restricted toupland areas, but they will be treated as a priority

6. Community Engagement Does the EoI and Community Data Book clearly demonstrate community engagement in developing the project, and community support of the Superfast broadband service?

Around £15million of new government funding to support up to six pilot Rural Growth Networks to deliver growth benefits at a localised level and at a scale appropriate to the rural context.

• Rural Growth Networks will be established to help rural areas overcome barriers to growth such as lack of suitable premises and provision of infrastructure (especially superfast broadband and mobile) and other business services.

• In addition to the £15 million of new funding, pilot Rural Growth Networks will have preferential access to all the new Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) schemes.

• In recognition of the specific issues facing women entrepreneurs in rural areas, Government is targeting up to £2.3 million (as part of the £15 million) to support rural enterprises led by women.

• Each Rural Growth Network will consist of a number of relatively small Enterprise Hubs. These could be generic or have a sectoral focus – for instance on local food, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, IT, creative/media industries or leisure businesses.

• Government has been working with Business in the Community (BitC) with the aim of ensuring that every pilot Rural Growth Network is partnered with a ‘Business Connector’, someone to bring in additional business expertise and to provide strong links to local communities.

• Bids from Local Enterprise Partnerships will be invited by the end of January to establish a Rural Growth Network made up of a number of Enterprise Hubs. As part of the Rural Growth Network competition and selection process (to be announced in December 2011) LEPs interested in acting as a pilot RGN will demonstrate commitment to improving the infrastructure and premises that businesses need to start-up and grow in these areas. LEPs will also need to be able to provide targeted action to enhance business skills and mentoring opportunities and obtain a commitment from the local authority to allow changes to business premises that support growth. The pilot areas will be announced by March 2012.

• Defra will evaluate the success of Rural Growth Networks and share the lessons learned so that LEPs can better understand what does & does not work in terms of developing rural economies.

• It is expected that an Rural Growth Network would typically consist of between five and twenty small sites or ‘enterprise hubs’ each suitable for between ten and twenty micro or small enterprises, although some larger sites (including existing business or industrial parks) might also be included in an Rural Growth Network. The hubs would be expected to be on existing underused business parks, on brownfield sites or on sites which already have outline planning permission for commercial or industrial development.

To increase the number of rural business premises, there will be action to cut red tape on use of farm buildings

• Farmers can be constrained from growing their businesses by the need to get planning consent for minor changes to the use of farm buildings.

• The government aims to extend Permitted Development rights to enable farmers to change the use of existing farm buildings without needing planning consent.

• A consultation will be launched shortly on changes needed to make it easier to allow the use of farm buildings for business use.

• This will make it easier for rural business to find the premises they need to expand.

£25 million will be invested in promoting rural tourism and supporting its businesses

• From February, Defra will make available grants totalling £10 million to rural businesses and local organisations to invest in local tourism. This Fund will draw on the Rural Development Programme for England.

• VisitEngland is investing £12 million in promoting rural tourism, in order to increase tourist numbers and and overall visitor expenditure by encouraging more people to visit rural England and to stay for longer when they do.

• In addition, local communities will be able to apply for a share of £2 million to improve public rights of way. There is good evidence that clear, easy to use, well promoted path networks result in increased tourist spend. South West Coast Path puts around £300 million a year into the local economies along its length.

Many local path networks are incomplete or difficult to use. Local authorities will be invited to bid for funding to:

– create new path links, circular routes or allow for horses and bicycles

– make existing paths easier and more accessible for all to use

– improve waymarking on the ground, and devise community level notices and maps;

– provide positive links with local transport services and popular destinations.

Local authorities and local access forums will be well placed to advise and help, but delivery and maintenance will be primarily through volunteers. Improved path networks would be publicised through local outlets, and partnerships could also post tourist information on a central web space.

• Defra will work with the 34 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England to develop a new approach to supporting rural tourism in these iconic rural landscapes.

• Building on the success of ‘Our Land’ in the South East, up to £1 million will be invested in a similar sustainable rural tourism initiative in the North East. The project will help tourism businesses offer activities and accommodation which celebrate and connect the visitor with local Areas of Outstandaing Natural Beauty and National Parks.

Community-owned renewable energy schemes will be supported by loans of a total £20 million

• From spring 2012, rural communities will be able to apply for loans from the Rural Community Renewable Energy Fund to undertake the feasibility and planning stages of renewable energy projects.

• The Fund will enable communities to unlock private investment in order to get their renewable energy schemes built, and they will be able to benefit from a share of the income generated.

• The loans will be repaid over an agreed period, so that the Fund can support further community renewable energy schemes in the future.

• The renewable energy schemes supported by the Fund will create jobs and contribute to the Government’s renewable energy targets.

• Further details about how the Fund will operate and be managed will be published in the near future.