The government’s second report on rural proofing examines how it will support the rural communities and economy. It includes the government’s Levelling Up White Paper and looks at the challenges of the current economic climate.
Capital grants available
As part of the Rural England Prosperity Fund, up to £110m will be made available as capital grants for rural communities and businesses to support development and growth, which may include equipment or modifications of property.
A rural lens on levelling up
The Rural Proofing Report has reviewed the 12 levelling-up missions through a rural lens.
Defra will work alongside the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities to ensure that the delivery of levelling up works for rural communities.
“We now need to see all government departments taking greater accountability for levelling up rural areas; policies around digital connectivity, tourism, transport and housing are just as important to rural communities as they are to urban ones.”
NFU President Minette Batters
Rural-proofing the civil service
Defra is training civil servants on rural proofing to ensure that Whitehall colleagues, including MPs, are versed in the challenges and opportunities of rural policy.
Defra will publish research reports that support rural proofing in policy in the coming months.
Read Defra's Delivering for Rural England – the second report on rural proofing on the GOV.UK website.
Concentrating efforts to level up rural communities
Responding to the report, NFU President Minette Batters said: “It’s encouraging to see concentrated efforts from the government to level up rural communities, especially the funding being made available through the Rural England Prosperity Fund to help the development and growth of rural businesses.
“It’s also promising that the government is looking at its levelling up goals through a rural lens and training civil servants on rural proofing. This will help ensure levelling up policies work for those living and working in rural areas, in turn, enabling rural communities to deliver even more when it comes to producing climate-friendly food, providing greater access to the iconic great British countryside and contributing to the national economy.
“We now need to see all government departments taking greater accountability for levelling up rural areas; policies around digital connectivity, tourism, transport and housing are just as important to rural communities as they are to urban ones. Alongside Defra’s work, a specific rural taskforce within the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities would help keep rural needs at the forefront of all levelling up policy-making, enabling rural areas to maximise the opportunities these policies are intended to provide.”
The NFU’s levelling up work
We continue to work on highlighting the issues that rural communities face. We believe that the government’s levelling up agenda is an opportunity for a revolutionary approach to rural Britain; one that maximises the potential of a community which plays such a core role in our national prosperity.
Our Levelling up rural Britain report, launched last year, set out how British farming and rural Britain can provide the solution to many of the challenges the nation faces by driving sustainable food production and pioneering food policy that produces carbon-neutral food.