MPs right to flag up concerns rural areas too often miss out
DURING a House of Commons debate this week on levelling up in rural areas, South Dorset MP Richard Drax described the situation as like a teacher dividing up a birthday cake for schoolchildren.
“We always hope that we get that slightly bigger slice,” he told MPs.
Admittedly, it is never easy sharing out a ‘cake’ so that everyone is satisfied, with so many demands on limited budgetary resources.
But as Mr Drax pointed out on behalf of his Westcountry constituents: “I don’t want all of it, I don’t want half of it, but for my constituents can we please at last have a fair share of the cake? Because we have lost out again, and again, and again and again.”
That plea would doubtless be echoed by MPs across the South West who believe that too often their rural constituencies miss out on vital support and funding, with the bulk of Government spending finding its way to urban areas.
Far from being the equivalent of schoolchildren, rural constituencies have very serious concerns and grown-up challenges that need addressing. Extra help is not just icing on a metaphorical cake, but essential to keep those who live in the countryside out of poverty.
Rural deprivation is far less visible than that in urban areas, being typically hidden from view down country lanes. And when it comes to the cost of living crisis, it is our rural communities which could be hardest hit compared with urban areas, according to a recent report by the Rural Services Network.
Isolated communities with poor transport links are dependent on cars to get around – and are paying the price as fuel costs have soared. Wages are lower than those in urban areas and spiralling property prices have pushed rural home ownership out of the reach of first-time buyers, who also struggle to find available and affordable places to rent.
In addition, many country-dwellers are cut off from decent shops, transport links, and mains supplies of gas. As Graham Biggs, chief executive of the Rural Services Network, said in September: “Rural areas are facing a triple burden of higher heating and transport costs, while also earning a lower income.”
Initiatives to drive levelling up have recently included proposals for investment zones, with tax benefits and a reduction in red tape aimed at boosting business and jobs. Cornwall Council is looking to take advantage of the scheme and has drawn up a list of potential areas which could benefit. These include
Falmouth Docks and Cornwall Airport Newquay, alongside more than a dozen sites scattered across the county. To be successful, such an initiative must help drive investment and innovation in rural areas to ensure the slice of the cake we receive in the Westcountry is shared outside towns and cities.
North Devon MP Selaine Saxby, opening Wednesday’s rural levelling up debate in the Commons, said urgent reform was needed to deliver greater prosperity for rural areas, adding that she believed rural Britain will “be better cared for” during Rishi Sunak’s time as prime minister. Let us hope that she is correct.