Rural communities 'vital' in 'Big Society'

Countryside contribution must not be overlooked

in drive to improve public services

Rural communities are well placed to ensure the government meets its goal of delivering better public services, says England’s biggest rural partnership.

The vision of a "Big Society" articulated by Prime Minister David Cameron already exists in many rural areas, says the Rural Services Network.

The network is the umbrella organisation for local authorities and other providers delivering services to rural communities across England.

It represents organisations serving more than 11 million people - many in small, remote communities as well as in market towns and large villages.

Network Chairman Councillor Roger Begy said strong links between local authorities and rural communities were helping to deliver better services.

"Implementation in rural areas will benefit from a number of existing building blocks such as Parish and Town Councils, community assets already under local ownership and importantly a culture of self reliance.

"Service providers and community groups and social enterprises in rural areas have significant experience already of working in partnership to help support and deliver local services.

"Our experience shows that the community often cannot deliver ’like for like’ public services, but can offer local action that benefits the same service users. It will be a challenge for both service providers and local communities to expect the community to provide ’like for like’ services at lower cost."

Network Chief Executive Graham Biggs said: "The issue of time concerns us greatly. Service providers will have to manage with massively reduced budget starting from next financial year - on top of the reductions already made.

"On the other hand it takes significant time to transfer the operational delivery of services. It is complicated enough when dealing with asset transfers such as community buildings but much more needs to be considered in service delivery transfers, particularly if new community groups are established for the purpose.

"It is do-able but does take time - something the current service providers may not have if they are to balance their budgets. It must also be remembered that if the service concerned is required by statute then whilst operational delivery can be ’contracted out’, responsibility and accountability cannot and if may be the public purse which ends up paying for mistakes.

"This is why great care must be taken in designing the services which the community may take on under the Big Society policies."

Rural communities were already providing many important services where the open market had failed to do so, said Mr Biggs.

These included village halls, community-run village shops, community-run pubs, community transport services and even community broadband.

"They provide a solid base to start from," said Mr Biggs.