What is the Rural Services Network

The National Voice for Rural Areas

The Rural Services Network is a Special Interest Group of the Local Government Association.  We are a membership organisation and work on behalf of our members as the national champion for rural services. 

We support our member organisations through the sharing of best practice and rural expertise, and advocate on their behalf to ensure that the rural voice is raised up the agenda with parliamentarians and decision makers.

The Rural Services Network has different levels of membership and currently represents:

• 67 Local Authorities in Sparse Membership
• 16 Local Authorities in Rural Assembly Membership
• Over 200 Organisations across England as part of the Rural Services Partnership
• Over 200 Rural Market Towns and Larger Parishes

In addition, we have a large number of Parish and Town Councils have community membership of the RSN, due to their Principal Council being in Sparse or Rural Assembly membership.