Our major documents and publications are as follows:

Winning the Rural Vote - A Roadmap to Rural Success

40% of constituencies are rural. These votes will be tightly contested at the next election, and the answer for political parties to harness this vote is simple:

• Listen to the needs of rural communities
• Understand the challenges they face
• Take action to support their potential

The Rural Services Network, as the national champion for rural services has put together a series of asks which we want to see the political parties adopt in their manifestos. The challenges rural communities face cannot be tackled in isolation, our communities need homes they can afford, with good jobs, connectivity to enable businesses to grow and access to public services that are fairly funded.

- Download the 'Winning the Rural Vote - A Roadmap to Rural Success' here

A better future for rural England: An opportunity for change

The Rural Coalition, an alliance of thirteen national organisations (including the RSN) who champion a living, working countryside, has set out an urgent appeal for all political parties to empower rural areas in election manifestos to improve the prospects and opportunities for rural businesses and communities.

The roadmap, ‘A better future for rural England: An opportunity for change’, sets out nine policy principles to address the structural inequalities and weaknesses facing rural areas and the people who live and work in rural England.
(Read the full press release here)

- Download the 'A better future for rural England: An opportunity for change' here

Rural cost of living

The report, Rural cost of living, by Kovia Consulting for the Rural Services Network, which represents rural councils and other rural service providers, examined the key differences in cost-of-living between rural and urban locations. It found that rural residents working in rural economies earn much less than urban residents, yet still face significantly higher costs across key aspects of living including heating, transport, house prices, rent, food prices, child-care costs and council tax.
(Read the full press release here)

- Download the 'Rural cost of living' report here

Rural as a region: the hidden challenge for Levelling Up

The report, Rural as a region: the hidden challenge for Levelling Up, finds that the Government’s Levelling Up white paper metrics - used to identify the regions most in need of levelling up - are too urban-focused, and do not account for disadvantage in rural economies within regions, often linked to limited local employment prospects, poor transport networks and weak connectivity. It calls for the Government to rethink its choice of metrics and include more rural-relevant indicators such as work placed based incomes, fuel poverty levels, access to further education and house prices relative to local earnings.
(Read the full press release here)

- Download the 'Rural as a region: the hidden challenge for Levelling Up' here

Rural Cost of Living Survey 2023: Final Report

This report was by evidenced by a survey of rural households distributed by the Rural Services Network (RSN). The results show that more than 75% of respondents say that their financial situation has got worse over the last year. The RSN, which represents rural councils and other rural service providers, conducted the survey with the Rural Issues Group of Citizens Advice to better gauge the impact of the cost of living crisis on households in rural areas across England.

Responses to the online household survey were received by a staggering 6,780 rural residents in a clear demonstration of the severity of the situation
(Read the full press release here)

- Download the 'Rural Cost of Living Survey 2023: Final Report ' here

State of Rural Services Report 2021

In conjunction with Rural England CIC the State of Rural Services Report 2021 (published in January 2022) explores the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on service provision in rural areas of England.

In some respects, the pandemic simply accelerated trends already underway, such as rural residents’ use of online services and cashless payments. One positive outcome has been more rural consumers valuing and using local food shops, a trend which may be sustained.
(Read the full press release here)

- State of Rural Services 2021 Full Report
- State of Rural Service 2021 Executive Summary Report

The State of Care in County and Rural Areas Report

The State of Care in Counties, released by the County Councils Network (CCN) and the Rural Services Network (RSN), provides an overview of the challenges in delivering adult social care in rural and county areas, and provides the first detailed analysis of the impact of the government’s social care reforms for councils.
(Read the full press release here)

- Download the 'The State of Care in County and Rural Areas' full report here
- Download the 'The State of Care in County and Rural Areas' executive summary here

Towards the UK Shared Prosperity Fund

The way in which the government is allocating funds for its flagship ‘Levelling Up’ programme is failing to properly recognise the needs of rural communities – according to research published by the Rural Services Network
(Read the full press release here)

- Download the 'Towards the UK Shared Prosperity Fund' report here

Cultivating rural growth

Recognising and addressing the post-pandemic rural productivity challenge
Recognising rural communities’ specific needs
Over the past year, Rural Services Network and its partners have commissioned three studies from Pragmatix Advisory to help inform policymakers on the nature of the economic challenges faced by rural communities and encourage debate on what needs to be done to stimulate their lasting recovery and revitalisation beyond the pandemic.

This report summarises some of the emerging key themes and recommendations.
(Read the associated news story here)

- Download the 'Cultivating rural growth' report here

Revitalising Rural: Realising the Vision

Revitalising Rural: Realising the Vision is a campaign led by the Rural Services Network to challenge Government on a number of policy areas that affect rural communities. It was launched on March 1st 2021.
(Read the full press release here)

To learn more about this campaign and to view the campaign reports and chapeters click here

Towards a greener Green Book process

There is a long way to go until rural communities see their fair share of investment as new economic research reveals government spending per person on public infrastructure is 44% higher for urban areas than it is for rural areas that include no major cities. The report, Towards a greener Green Book process, produced by Pragmatix Advisory and jointly commissioned by Rural Services Network, Britain’s Leading Edge, CPRE, the countryside charity and English Rural exposes how rural communities are poorly served by government’s mechanisms for allocating public funds.
(Read the full press release here)

- Download the 'Towards a greener Green Book process' full report here
- Download the 'Towards a greener Green Book process' summary report here