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.
29 Aug 2023
Local Authorities called on to dramatically increase the number of EV public charging points to meet growing demand
A new study by Transport England and England’s Economic Heartland has found that there needs to be an almost six-fold increase in public electric vehicle charging points by 2025, in...
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14 Aug 2023
Urban Councils budget to spend double that of rural on discretionary services
Research, completed by the Rural Services Network has shown that Urban Councils budget to spend double that of rural councils on discretionary services per head for the year 2023 –...
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31 Jul 2023
RSN Chief Executive on BBC Radio 4 talking about rural services
Chief Executive of the Rural Services Network Kerry Booth featured on Farming Today on Monday 31st July talking about rural services. Here’s the discussion she had with presenter Charlotte Smith...
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24 Jul 2023
Government launches consultation on Best Value Duty
The Government is seeking views from local authorities in England on what constitutes best value and what standards the Secretary of State for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities should expect. The...
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10 Jul 2023
RSN cautiously welcomes Michael Gove’s comment on fairer funding: “There desperately needs to be a fairer, more rational allocation of resources across authorities
At his speech at the LGA conference, Michael Gove MP (Con, Surrey Heath) acknowledged that the current funding system is “out of date” and that there “desperately needs to be...
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10 Jul 2023
Rural Coalition urges Government not to ignore England’s 9.7 million rural voters
Rural England’s population of 9.7 million risk being left further behind after the next general election if the political system continues to ignore the systematic inequalities facing rural communities and...
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10 Jul 2023
Rural England’s 9.7 million risk being left further behind at general election
The Rural Coalition urges political parties to address rural challenges to gain ground among countryside voters 10 July 2023: Rural England’s population of 9.7 million risk being left further behind...
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13 Jun 2023
RSN briefs Gove on Rural Unfair Funding
Yesterday afternoon Kerry Booth, RSN Chief Executive, was alongside a group of Council Leaders who met with Rt Hon Michael Gove MP to talk about the Local Government Funding Formula and...
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12 Jun 2023
Government announces new initiative ‘Unleashing Rural Opportunity’
At the Countryside Future Conference last week, the Secretary of State for Rural Affairs, Therese Coffey, unveiled the Government’s new initiative Unleashing Rural Opportunity. She told delegates: “Securing a fine...
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30 May 2023
Fairer funding for rural communities
Kerry Booth, Chief Executive of the Rural Services Network, recently wrote in the Care Management Matters periodical, asking the question how can we ensure an ageing rural population can access...
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