Access to Services
22 Jan 2018
Village halls ‘vital service providers’
Village halls are vital when it comes to delivering rural services, Defra minister Lord Gardiner of Kimble has said. The rural affairs minister and Conservative peer described the community buildings as...
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19 Jan 2018
Rural areas lack cash machines
Rural communities are among 200 areas in Britain with few or no cash machines. Consumer group Which? says the communities might be hardest hit by proposals that could reduce the...
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17 Jan 2018
Funding cuts pile pressure on services
Funding cuts are set to pile further pressure on already over-stretched public services, the Rural Services Network has warned. Rural local authorities are set to lose one third of their...
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12 Jan 2018
Post offices given community status
Some 3000 post office counters have been designated “community branches” as they deliver services to rural residents, says the government. Business minister Andrew Griffiths was responding to a parliamentary written question about...
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08 Jan 2018
Pressure mounts over fairer funding
The government is facing renewed calls for fairer funding for rural communities. It follows the announcement of its provisional local finance settlement, which is due to be finalised over the...
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05 Jan 2018
Rural police receive less funding
Rural areas continue to receive less police funding than urban areas, says the Rural Services Network. Using 2016 population figures, the network has compared total direct resource funding per head...
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04 Jan 2018
‘Travel hubs’ to connect rural villages
Three villages could become “rural travel hubs” to improve rural transport in Cambridgeshire. The pilot hubs, to be funded by the Greater Cambridge Partnership, will be travel interchanges tailored for...
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01 Jan 2018
Rural families spend £3k more on essentials
Rural households spend about £3000 more per year than their urban counterparts on essentials, suggests a study. Inflation when it comes to goods and services in rural areas is also...
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28 Dec 2017
Bigger team to combat rural crime
A rural crime team in Derbyshire has helped resolve crimes worth £120,000 in its first six months. The dedicated police team, which is based at Matlock, has been at the...
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27 Dec 2017
Rural residents fear fuel poverty
Crippling fuel bills mean many rural householders are too scared to put their heating on. More than three in ten Britons – many of them in rural areas – are...
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