RSN Responds To Fair Funding 2.0

Remoteness Must Be Recognised Across All Services

The Rural Services Network (RSN) has expressed disappointment that the Government’s updated Fair Funding 2.0 proposals fail to fully reflect the additional costs of delivering services in rural and remote areas.

While welcoming elements of the package, including the move towards multi-year settlements and a more streamlined set of grants, the RSN warns that the funding formulas do not apply remoteness consistently across all service areas, despite strong evidence submitted by rural authorities during the consultation.

RSN Chief Executive, Kerry Booth said:

“Rural and remote communities face clear, unavoidable additional costs, from longer travel times to reduced provider competition and challenges in workforce recruitment. These are not isolated issues to only social care; they affect almost every aspect of local service delivery.

We are therefore disappointed that the Government has recognised remoteness in principle yet chosen not to apply it across all services in the final formulas. A fair system must reflect the true cost of delivering services in rural areas.”

The RSN also notes that this year, urban authorities received 40% more per head in Government Funded Spending Power.  As a result of years of underfunding, rural residents are therefore paying on average 20% more in Council tax, resulting in the burden for paying for public services, on working people.  Without a more consistent approach to recognising rurality and remoteness in the needs formulas, the Government risks widening the long-standing rural funding gap.

Kerry Booth added:

“We will now examine the detailed technical papers ahead of the provisional Settlement and continue to engage with Government.”

A genuinely fair funding system must recognise both deprivation and the additional cost pressures linked to geography and sparsity. Remoteness is not a niche issue, it affects the day-to-day viability of services across rural England.

Every person, in every place, deserves the same fairness and the same chance to thrive.”

The RSN will provide further updates once it has reviewed the full technical detail and modelling.

Read the Government response to the Fair Funding Review 2.0 here