Rural Fair Funding
Amid reduced public spending, fair resource allocation across regions is crucial. Despite a population larger than Greater London, rural areas receive significantly less funding for essential services, even though delivering these services in rural locales is costlier.
10 Nov 2025
New RSN Rural Lens Reviews Highlight Policy Impact
The Rural Services Network has released three new Rural Lens Reviews, providing our members with in-depth analysis of how key Government policies and reports impact rural communities. Through our Rural...
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10 Nov 2025
A Decade Of Affordable Homes Begins. Will Rural England See The Benefit?
The government has launched the full details of its new Social and Affordable Homes programme (2026–2036) described as the biggest boost to social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. Worth...
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10 Nov 2025
Government Publishes New Financial Inclusion Strategy
The Government has published a new Financial Inclusion Strategy, setting out an ambitious cross-sector plan to ensure everyone can access and effectively use financial services, from opening a bank account...
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10 Nov 2025
Patients To Benefit From Cutting-Edge NHS Care At Home
New digital technologies will enable more NHS patients to receive care from home, under a national rollout announced last week. Dozens of areas in England are introducing remote-monitoring tools through...
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03 Nov 2025
SEND Reforms Need To Address Home To School Transport Pressures
Local authorities are struggling to balance their legal duty to provide transport for eligible pupils and the duty to balance their budget, says the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO’s...
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03 Nov 2025
Rural Community Businesses Hold The Key To Renewal But Remain Overlooked
New research from Plunkett UK reveals that rural community-owned businesses are already delivering social, economic and environmental benefits that align directly with government ambitions – yet they remain under-recognised and...
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29 Oct 2025
Rural Councils Must Not Lose Out In Funding Reform
Following reports in The Times that proposed changes to council funding allocations have been watered down after lobbying from London boroughs, the Rural Services Network (RSN) is urging government to...
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20 Oct 2025
Government Review to Deliver Fairer GP Funding
A six-month review of how GP funding is distributed across England has been launched to ensure that communities with the greatest health needs receive their fair share of NHS resources....
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20 Oct 2025
Free School Meals Data Failing To Reflect Real Disadvantage
A new report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI), funded by the Nuffield Foundation, warns that the current system for registering children for Free School Meals (FSM) is failing to...
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13 Oct 2025
RSN Joins Sector Call To Unfreeze Local Housing Allowance
The Rural Services Network (RSN) has joined more than 40 leading housing, homelessness, and anti-poverty organisations in signing a joint letter to the UK Government urging action to unfreeze Local...
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