Reviewing and Aligning Regional Priorities for Rural Areas

Reviewing and aligning regional priorities for rural areas

Report commissioned by the West Midlands Regional Assembly for the Rural Affairs Forum and supported by the Countryside Agency

______

Sarah Ayres & Graham Pearce

Aston Business School, Birmingham

107

Preface

In August 2004 we prepared a report for the West Midlands Rural Affairs Forum, Rural Strategies, Frameworks and Policies, which charted the policies, strategies and plans that have an impact on the region’s rural areas. It revealed the presence of a variety of regional strategy documents, dealing with sectoral, cross-sectoral and territorial issues and containing a multiplicity of priority aims, objectives and targets, which affect many aspects of rural life in the West Midlands. In practice, however, very few of the documents provided a useful basis for defining the region’s strategic rural priorities, raising questions about the coherence of policies and plans for rural areas and the consistency of implementation measures. This report responds to these concerns by mapping and assessing the degree of alignment between strategies and establishing a ‘core group’ of priorities, which will have practical application in informing the development of the Regional Rural Delivery Framework and the work priorities of the Rural Affairs Forum.

We are grateful to the West Midlands Regional Assembly and the Countryside Agency for commissioning the study and to members of the West Midlands Rural Accord Group for their guidance.

Sarah Ayres & Graham Pearce

Aston Business School

Aston University

Birmingham

B4 7ET

UK

November 2004

The right of S Ayres & G Pearce to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

CONTENTS

Page

Preface

I.  Introduction 5

III. Objectives 7

IV. Research method 9

V.  Rural policy statements 10

VI. Initial policy analysis 12

VII. Conclusions 16

References 18

Appendices

Tables E1-E32: Stage 1: Mapping regional priorities under rural objectives 22

Tables F1-F31: Stage 2: Identifying omissions and reducing duplication 56

Tables G1-G32: Stage 3: Consolidating priorities and developing statements 71

I. Introduction

In the UK the meaning of rural development is undergoing significant modification, towards ‘a more territorial and integrated approach to agriculture’s role in wider rural development’ (Lowe and Ward, 2002: 126). EU rural policy is gradually shifting away from a prescriptive, top-down approach based on agriculture to one that incorporates a stronger territorial dimension, acknowledges rural diversity and encompasses the economic, social and environmental needs of rural areas (Dwyer, et al, 2002; Bulmer, et al, 2002; European Commission, 2002). Nationally, there has also been growing recognition of the need to better understand and integrate the evolving regional and local dimension into rural policy and exploit the linkages between the environment and social/economic activity (DEFRA, 2004a; Countryside Agency, 2004; DETR/MAFF, 2000). The clearest statement yet of the Government’s commitment to the decentralisation of rural policy delivery to regional and local bodies in England came in DEFRA’s Rural Strategy 2004 (DEFRA, 2004b). It confirmed the need for regional and local institutions to have increased ‘ownership’ and discretion to prioritise rural policies and for greater collaboration between delivery bodies to ensure simpler, more efficient delivery. The Government’s Offices in the Regions (GOs) were granted a stronger remit to co-ordinate rural partnership structures and processes, monitor rural delivery and promote rural proofing. Regional Development Agencies are also to be given additional responsibilities for managing the funding of rural economic and social regeneration programmes. Rather than imposing a uniform solution DEFRA also announced that each region should determine what structures best meet its own needs.

As part of this strategy, each of the GOs has been charged with brokering Rural Delivery Frameworks for their regions to achieve better prioritisation and decision-making in relation to rural policies (DEFRA, 2004c). The Frameworks are expected to:

·  Pull together existing regional plans and actions,

·  Allow better links to be made to wider policy issues, such as transport and housing,

·  Identify rural needs and opportunities,

·  Prioritise and drive co-ordinated action, and

·  Help identify and share best practice (DEFRA, 2004c).

Delivery partners are encouraged to engage in developing the Framework and grass-roots stakeholders (through Regional Rural Affairs Forums) are to participate by ensuring that solutions meet the needs of rural people and that they deliver benefits on the ground. The issue of sustainability is to be a central theme - tackling social and economic disadvantage at the same time as enhancing and protecting the countryside.

In the West Midlands the Rural Delivery Framework (RDF) sub-group (Rural Leads) has begun to develop the Framework. The intention is not to establish a regional rural strategy, but to build on existing regional strategies and plans to inform the development of regional priorities for rural delivery. To facilitate the process, the RDF sub-group has adopted the ‘rural action areas’ outlined in DEFRA’s Rural Strategy 2004 and tailored them to the specific requirements of the region. The outcome has been the identification of thirty-two ‘high order’ rural objectives for the region (Table 1), which will be used to construct the Rural Delivery Framework.

TABLE 1. WEST MIDLAND RURAL OBJECTIVES

Economic /

Social Justice

/ Environment
1.  Skills
2.  Business support
3.  Broadband
4.  Planning
5.  Agriculture, fishing and forestry
6.  Support for lagging rural areas
7.  Social enterprise
8.  Tourism / A - Social Exclusion
9.  Citizenship & Community
10.  Multi Service outlets
11.  Public Services
12.  Social inclusion
13.  Voluntary & Community Sector
14.  Young People
15.  Older People
16.  Community Buildings
B - Key Issues
17.  Housing
18.  Public Transport
19.  Traffic Management
20.  Fear of Crime
21.  Employment/Training/Skills
C - Access to Public Services
22.  Education
23.  Health
24.  Social Services
25.  Equitable Access to Local Authority Services / 26.  Climate change
27.  Biodiversity
28.  Water supply and quality
29.  Flood risk management
30.  Soil
31.  Air quality
32.  Landscape management

Ii. objectives

The RDF sub-group has agreed a programme of work to inform the drafting of the Rural Delivery Framework, which includes:

·  Reviewing and analysing existing regional and sub-regional plans and strategies,

·  Synthesising the key elements of those strategies,

·  Identifying overlaps, linkages and gaps, and

·  Working with partners to establish regional priorities for rural delivery.

Rural Strategies, Frameworks and Policies (Ayres and Pearce, 2004) examined each of the region’s thirty-one regional strategies and other plans (Table 2) and identified over 600 priorities relevant to rural areas, of which one in five had a specific rural dimension. The key objectives of the present study are twofold. First, to categorise each of these priorities against the thirty-two rural objectives agreed by the RDF sub-group (Table 1). Second, to identify a set of high-level policy statements, which reflect the region’s aspirations for its rural communities, as expressed in existing policy and programme documents (Section IV). These policy statements are intended to inform the second stage of the RDF sub-group’s work on the Rural Delivery Framework - i.e. synthesising the key elements of those strategies. The outputs from this study is intended to:

·  Establish a reference point that links the region’s existing plans and strategies with the newly defined rural objectives,

·  Identify areas of similarity or duplication across the region’s strategies and documents,

·  Inform on potential areas for joint working/integration, and

·  Provide a series of high-level policy statements that can be used to inform the drafting of the Rural Delivery Framework.

This work is based entirely on a desk-top study and, as such, has not involved consultation or discussions with a wider audience. The findings are to be used as an advisory ‘resource tool’, which feeds into the wider process of developing the Rural Delivery Framework. The policy statements and accompanying data do not represent any final decisions on rural policies or priorities for the West Midlands and are intended to feed into on-going pieces of work conducted by the RDF sub-group.

TABLE 2. REGIONAL STRATEGIES, FRAMEWORKS AND CONSULTATION DOCUMENTS

Table / Abbreviation /

Document

KEY REGIONAL STRATEGIES AND FRAMEWORKS

B1 / RPG / Regional Planning Guidance
B2 / H / Regional Housing Strategy
B3 / C / Regional Cultural Strategy
B4 / ESF / Regional European Strategic Framework
B5 / W / Water Strategy for the West Midlands
B6 / RES / Regional Economic Strategy
B7 / FD / Farming, Food and Drink Cluster Strategy
B8 / ERD / England Rural Development Programme
B9 / O / Objective 2 Single Programming Document

REGIONAL STRATEGIES / FRAMEWORKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RES

B10 / F / Regional Framework for Employment and Skills Action
B11 / T / Regional International Trade Strategy
B12 / M / Regional Marketing Strategy
B13 / L / Regional Language Strategy
B14 / VE / Regional Visitor Economy Strategy
B15 / SE / Regional Social Enterprise Framework
B16 / FA / Regional Access to Finance Framework
B17 / I / Regional Innovation Strategy
B18 / ICT / Regional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy
B19 / E / Regional Enterprise Framework
B20 / MA / Regional Manufacturing Statement
DRAFT STRATEGIES / FRAMEWORKS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSULTATION
B21 / S / Regional Sustainable Development Framework
B22 / ES / Regional Energy Strategy
B23 / B / Regional Biodiversity Strategy
B24 / FO / Regional Forestry Framework
B25 / RR / Rural Renaissance Accompanying Statement to the RES
B26 / EL / Regional e-learning Strategy
B27 / WA / Draft Waste Strategy

OTHER DOCUMENTS

B28 / HE / Regional Health Priorities
B29 / EE / Environmental Economy of the West Midlands Document
B30 / CC / Report on the Potential Impacts of Climate Change
B31 / BME / Options for Effective Engagement of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Communities

iiI. research method

Our previous report identified the following sets of data:

·  West Midlands Government Office Tier 2 Targets (Table A1),

·  Advantage West Midlands Tier 2 Targets (Table A2),

·  Regional priorities that impact on rural areas in each of the thirty-one regional documents (Tables B1-B31),

·  Regional priorities that relate to eleven identified policy areas (agriculture, community, culture, economic development, environment, health, housing, land use, skills, tourism and leisure and transport). This information is found in tables C1-C11, and

·  Rurally specific (territorial) policy priorities that relate to each of the eleven policy areas (Tables D1-D11).

To avoid duplication and repetition, the tables compiled in our previous report are not included here. Furthermore, to avoid confusion, the classification of tables in this report will begin at ‘E’. The data used to inform this study has been derived from Tables A1, A2 and B1-B31. It has been analysed in three key stages:

·  Stage 1 involves mapping the region’s Tier 2 targets (Tables A1 & A2) and 603 policy priorities (Tables B1-B31) in relation to the thirty-two rural objectives (Table 1). This information is provided in Appendix 1, Tables E1-32.

·  Stage 2 critically appraises the mapping exercise conducted in Stage 1 by searching for omissions and reducing overlap and duplication across the thirty-two rural objectives. Appendix 2, Tables F1-F31, identifies the number of times each of the 603 priorities has been mapped in Stage 1.

·  Stage 3 synthesises (groups together) regional priorities with a similar focus, highlighting areas of commonality and duplication across the region’s strategy documents (Appendix 3, Tables G1-G32). Based on this exercise a set of high-level policy statements have been produced (see section IV) which encapsulate the content of these priorities. It is important to note that there were no regional priorities relating to community buildings (Social Justice section) or to fishing (Economic section). Therefore, there are no policy statements relating to these particular themes.

A full account of the methodology used at each stage of the research is provided in the Appendices.

Iv. rural policy statements

In total, fifty-four rural high-level policy statements have been produced. These statements represent what the region is committed to in terms of policies that relate to rural areas. Statements that relate specifically to rural areas (have a territorial focus) are highlighted in red. Statements that have a regional (or thematic) focus, but which impact on rural areas, are identified in black.

ECONOMIC OBJECTIVES

Skills

1.  Improve educational attainment by raising standards in schools and colleges and increasing participation in higher education.

2.  Improve adult skills and learning through the Skills for Life and e-learning programmes.

3.  Enhance the region’s national and global influence through effective leadership.

4.  Ensure that businesses can access the skills required for innovation and growth.

5.  Foster a well advised, flexible and highly skilled rural workforce through the implementation of a rural skills agenda.

Business Support

6.  Make sustainable improvements in the economic performance of the region by increasing levels of productivity and securing inward investment.

7.  Stimulate entrepreneurship and growth by improving the image of the region and providing an efficient and effective business support system.

8.  Expand employment opportunities by creating and safeguarding jobs.

9.  Increase the region’s influence over EU policy and secure a higher share for the West Midlands of the many European funding programmes currently available.

10.  Implement a programme of regeneration in 20 market towns and provide an environment conducive to start, grow, adapt and develop business competitiveness.

Broadband

11.  Exploit and co-ordinate ICT to contribute to a productive and competitive environment that enhances the ways in which we work, learn and live.

12.  Make broadband communications available to all businesses and 97% of households by the end of 2004.

Planning

13.  The development of land use plans and policies should involve consideration of economic, social and environmental sustainability.

14.  Economic development should be focussed on the MUAs.