Rural Economy Spotlight - June 2026

A quarterly bulletin facilitated by your membership of the Rural Services Network highlighting a selection of current rural economic development news, issues and opportunities

Rural poverty report highlights hidden hardship

A new report from the Labour Rural Research Group (LRRG) has highlighted the scale and nature of poverty across rural Britain, challenging assumptions that countryside communities are largely affluent.

The report, Rural Poverty in Britain, draws on evidence from a wide range of organisations, including evidence submitted by the Rural Services Network (RSN), alongside focus group research capturing lived experience in rural areas.

It finds that rural poverty is “real, structural and too frequently invisible”, driven by the “rural penalty” - the additional and unavoidable costs of living outside towns and cities.

Higher costs for transport, energy and food, combined with reduced access to services and infrastructure, are placing increasing pressure on rural households. The report also highlights how poverty in rural areas is often undercounted, meaning need is not fully reflected in policy or funding decisions.

The LRRG calls for a comprehensive Rural Strategy, with social and economic mobility at its core and a stronger focus on how rural need is measured and supported.

In relation to rural economies, the report concludes that, despite all the challenges: “there is enormous, untapped potential in rural areas. With the right policies, rural economies could achieve significantly increased productivity and growth and create an additional £9-19 billion per year in tax revenue.

“At a national level, this represents a missed opportunity for growth. Parliamentary analysis shows that service-sector job growth since the 1980s has been overwhelmingly urban-focused. The concentration of employment, investment and public services in urban centres has constrained the productivity potential of rural areas, limiting their ability to contribute fully to the UK’s growth agenda.”

You can read the full report here.

In addition, the LRRG recently closed its latest call for submissions to inform their upcoming report examining the future of the rural economy. You can read more here.

How can English devolution support rural prosperity?

CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, write: “Healthy rural economies, environments and communities bring benefits for the whole country, yet rural areas and issues have historically been deprioritised in policymaking: agglomeration and its favouring of policy towards centres of population has historically prevailed.”

A new report commissioned by CPRE and produced by Grounded Insight explores the potential of English devolution “to address the imbalance in policymaking and investment in its rural areas.”

The report looks at existing Mayoral Strategic Authorities with significant rural populations to understand how the powers, funding and levers available to them could progress rural prosperity.

You can read more and access the full report at this link.

New report highlights rural women's innovation support needs

Women entrepreneurs in the North Pennines have highlighted the need for stronger business support, mentoring, funding and peer networks to help them innovate and grow.

The findings come from a series of three Rural Women in Enterprise Events delivered by NICRE (the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise) in partnership with North Pennines National Landscape in March. The events explored the opportunities and challenges facing women running businesses across the region and identified areas where additional support could make the biggest difference.

The event report highlights several opportunities to strengthen innovation support across the North Pennines, including:

• Business and innovation support through expert advice, training, support sessions and opportunities to connect with peers.
• Personal development support for women in enterprise, including mentoring, skills development, training and peer networks.
• Access to funding for capital investment, start-ups and growing businesses, alongside support for training and employment opportunities.

You can read more here.

Rural England statistical digest available

The Statistical Digest of Rural England is a collection of statistics on a range of social and economic topics and provides broad comparisons between Rural and Urban areas by settlement type.

Prepared by DEFRA, the Digest is structured into thematic reports and incorporates the previously separate publication the Rural Economic Bulletin.

The Digest consists of the following thematic reports:

• Population
• Housing
• Health and Wellbeing
• Communities and Households
• Connectivity and Accessibility
• Education, Qualifications and Training
• Rural Economic Bulletin
• Energy

You can access all the contents at the following link: About the Digest and Rural Definitions - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The most recent rural economic statistics can be found at this link.

New Report Highlights Future Skills Demands

Skills England has published its first Annual Skills Report, setting out the challenges and opportunities facing England's workforce over the coming decade. The report provides a detailed assessment of current and future skills needs and outlines actions to help ensure the skills system can respond to changing labour market demands.

The report identifies five key challenges for the skills system:

• Addressing skills shortages and supporting workforce reskilling and upskilling.
• Encouraging greater employer investment in training and apprenticeships.
• Preparing workers for the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).
• Improving employability pathways for young people.
• Building more responsive, locally-focused skills systems that reflect local economic needs.

Kerry Booth, RSN chief executive, said: “Skills England is right to recognise that a one-size-fits-all approach to skills and employment will not deliver for every community. Our recent Delivering for All: Rural Realities research found that rural residents see a clear link between skills, employment opportunities, housing affordability, transport and connectivity. Too often, talented young people are forced to leave rural areas because the opportunities simply are not there, while local employers struggle to recruit and retain staff.

“If we are to meet future workforce needs and unlock the full potential of rural economies, skills policy must be genuinely place-based and reflect the distinct challenges faced by rural communities. Rural areas have enormous potential to contribute to national growth, but only if people can access the training, jobs and infrastructure they need to thrive.”

You can read the full report here.

RSN 2026 seminar programme – booking open

The RSN member exclusive Seminar Programme for 2026, brings together industry experts, rural practitioners, and sector leaders to explore the major issues shaping rural communities across England.

Our seminars are a core RSN member benefit, highly interactive, and designed to support learning, collaboration, and real-world problem-solving.  In 2025 we welcomed 450 delegates from across our membership at our seminar events!

The 2026 programme covers a wide range of rural priorities. Remaining sessions are as follows:

• Rural affordable housing – 15th July
• Rural planning – 4th November
• Rural health and care – 2nd December

You can view the full timetable book directly here.

Review into access to banking services begins

Communities, businesses and organisations have been invited to share their views on accessing face-to-face banking services, as the independent ‘Access to Banking’ review launches a Call for Evidence.

The Review, commissioned by the Treasury last month, is examining the impact of changes in access to in person banking services and identifying whether this is causing detriment to consumers, communities and businesses.

The Review will use the evidence to assess customer needs, the scale of any detriment, and the future trajectory of in-person banking services, before making recommendations to Government in October 2026.

The call for evidence closes on 20 July 2026. All details are available here.

Government Explores Community Battery Rollout

The Government has launched a call for evidence on proposals to expand the use of community batteries, which could help households and businesses make greater use of locally generated renewable energy and reduce energy costs.

Community batteries store surplus electricity, such as solar power generated during the day, for use when demand is higher. By sharing stored energy across multiple properties, they could help more people benefit from renewable electricity, including renters and those living in flats who may be unable to install their own battery systems.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is seeking views on how community battery schemes could be rolled out more widely across the UK, including how regulatory, commercial and safety barriers can be addressed. You can read more here.

Local Net Zero Hubs support available to councils and communities

The Local Net Zero Hubs programme helps local authorities and communities in England to play a leading role in decarbonisation, supporting local authorities to develop net zero projects and attract commercial investment.

Find out more about the Local Net Zero Hub in your area as follows:

• North East and Yorkshire Local Net Zero Hub
• North West Local Net Zero Hub
• Midlands Local Net Zero Hub
• South West Local Net Zero Hub
• South East Local Net Zero Hub

Further information on the support available can be found at this link.

Local business organisations – keep calm and sign up!

RSN exists to enable the issues facing the rural areas of England to be identified, information and good practice to be shared and government to be challenged to address the needs and build on the opportunities which abound in rural areas.  We have a number of Chambers of Trade, Commerce and Local Business Networks who are members of RSN and currently receive our bulletins.  If there is a business organisation in your area who you think would find our bulletins useful, please pass this bulletin onto them and ask them to contact Andy Dean with their contact details so we can ensure they are included in future distributions.

Future editions of the Rural Economy Spotlight

The next edition of this bulletin will be distributed in September 2026.  If you have any suggestions as to future content or would like to submit a short article for inclusion, please contact Andy Dean.