10 proposals to ‘unleash rural potential’

Proposals to “unleash the full potential” of the countryside have been unveiled by the government.

They include slashing the number of farm inspections by 20,000 and tripling the number of food and farming apprenticeships from 6,000 to 18,000.

The government’s first 10-point Rural Productivity Plan was launched by Defra on Thursday (20 August).

See also: Defra plan to boost self-sufficiency in food

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said: “For too long the British economy has been reliant on businesses based in our cities and towns.

“We want to create a One Nation economy that taps into the potential of all parts of our country.

“That means setting the right conditions for rural communities and businesses to thrive, investing in education and skills, improving rural infrastructure, and allowing rural villages to thrive and grow.”

The 10-point plan is as follows:

1 Strong conditions for rural business growth – cutting red tape, including 20,000 farm inspections to be cut this Parliament, and cuts to corporation tax.

2 Better mobile coverage – ensuring 98% indoor coverage for 4G by 2017.

3 Modern transport connections – improving connectivity of rural areas including through the £15bn Road Investment Strategy and the £38bn rail investment programme.

4 Access to Enterprise Zones in rural areas – giving 100% business rate discounts on businesses located within them, saving each company up to £275,000 over five years.

5 High-quality education – raising standards through fairer funding and working with underperforming schools.

6 Expanded apprenticeships in rural areas – tripling the number of food and farming apprenticeships from 6,000 to 18,000.

7 Extensive, fast and reliable broadband – making superfast broadband available for 95% of UK premises by 2017 and working with providers to address challenges reaching the final 5%.

8 Improved planning and better regulation for businesses – supporting delivery of starter homes on rural exception sites and reviewing the planning constraints affecting rural areas.

9 More devolution of powers – calling on local areas to propose what further powers they would like to see handed to them.

10 Housing for future generations – increasing the availability of housing in rural areas to ensure our villages thrive.

The Country Land and Business Association welcomed the plan but said it fell short in crucial areas such as rural broadband and increasing the number of rental homes.

CLA policy director Christopher Price said: “The challenge of delivering improved productivity in our rural areas is different to that in our towns and cities.

“We welcome the specific focus on rural areas in this announcement.”

“We need more homes in the countryside that first time buyers can afford and there is a big opportunity to improve on this. A pragmatic planning framework is critical to delivering this.

But Mr Price added: “The plan lacks action on the important priority of increasing availability of homes to rent in rural areas.”

The plan had rightly recognised that mobile and broadband coverage was vital to creating growth and jobs in rural areas, said Mr Price.

But he warned: “This latest plan still falls short of giving rural communities and businesses the confidence that the universal service they are crying out for will be achieved.”