Government ‘doesn’t understand challenges of rural communities’

ORGANISATIONS across North Yorkshire have told the county’s Rural Commission that central government “doesn’t understand the challenges faced by rural economies and communities”.

One of the commissioners, former newspaper editor Jean MacQuarrie, said a devolution deal which would see powers and funding handed to a North Yorkshire mayor would be a “gamechanger” for the county.

Ms MacQuarrie, who comes from a farming background in North Yorkshire, said she wanted the commission’s report to tackle the “lived reality” for people which meant issues like whether village schools might close, accessing banking facilities and getting to a doctor on public transport.

And she said the debate over the “levelling up” agenda “was absolutely dominated by the economic and social needs of urban areas, rather than recognising that significant potential of rural, and sparsely populated areas of North Yorkshire”.

The former editor-in-chief of JPIMedia’s Yorkshire weeklies series said: “We often talk about transforming the region into a rural powerhouse which I think is a great phrase for North Yorkshire.

“So levelling up is going to be less effective if it comes from central government. And that’s why devolution is one of our key themes. It’s an absolute priority for rural North Yorkshire. In fact, it’s a game-changer.”

The commission took evidence from 70 people and organisations and 30 written representations. Ms MacQuarrie said: “We’re repeatedly hearing that national government just doesn’t understand the challenges faced by rural economies and communities.”

The commission has called for the Government to agree a devolution deal as a matter of urgency and for North Yorkshire County Council to set up an advisory taskforce to take its recommendations forward. Ms MacQuarrie said strong leadership was important as there was “a myriad of organisations coming at all these issues for all North Yorkshire, but it needs to be brought together”.