PRESENTATION TO THE HAMPSHIRE COMMISSION: GRAHAM BIGGS CHIEF - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

PRESENTATION TO THE HAMPSHIRE COMMISSION: GRAHAM BIGGS CHIEF EXECUTIVE RURAL SERVICES NETWORK CHIEF

THE CHALLENGES FACING RURAL AREAS

NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL

Rural areas are varied in type and character. They include – among others – remote and upland communities, coastal settlements, commuter belt villages and former mining settlements. Indeed, they often vary within a single local authority area. Policies

• ught to be flexible in their design and delivery, if they are to meet

the needs of such diverse places. There are, however, a number of policy challenges which are common to most rural places and which are frequently inter- connected.

COMMON POLICY CHALLENGES

➢Ageing ➢Living Costs ➢Infrastructure ➢Accessibility/Mobility ➢Delivery Costs ➢Perception

COULD ADD

➢High average household incomes ➢Low Incomes earned in the rural economy ➢Numbers of SME’s and Self Employed ➢Low Expectations? ➢Outflow of young people ➢Resilience and strength of Community Support ➢Volunteer overload

JOBS IN RURAL AREAS

▪ Historical importance of land-based industries BUT sectoral structures of employment have become more similar over time in rural and urban areas ▪ Producer services under-represented in rural areas ▪ Occupational structures less diverse – particularly in remoter rural areas ▪ Proportionately more small businesses in rural areas, but average turnover per person employed is greater in urban areas ▪ Higher incidence of self-employment positively and strongly correlates with business creation and innovation in urban areas but not in rural areas

Rural and urban labour markets

Common features ▪ Convergence in employment structures in rural and urban areas ▪ Common trends:

• professionalisation
• polarisation

▪ Opportunities from ICT

(information & communications technologies)

▪ Diversity within categories Distinctive features of rural ▪ Older than average population – implications for ‘replacement demand’ ▪ Selective out-migration of more qualified young people ▪ Establishment profile (skewed

towards small employers), sparsely

distributed populations, transport issues pose difficulties in delivering training

Labour supply – migration

▪ Migration plays a key role in national and sub-national well- being – it has effects on socio-economic & demographic change ▪ International migrant labour has become a structural part of many rural labour markets – beyond seasonal labour ▪ Broadening of destinations of international migrants from 2004 ▪ Important role of international migrant labour in high-skilled labour markets – notably in the NHS ▪ Unattractiveness of remote rural areas for dual career households

Introduction – rural and urban labour markets

Common features ▪ Convergence in employment structures in rural and urban areas ▪ Common trends:

• professionalisation
• polarisation

▪ Opportunities from ICT

(information & communications technologies)

▪ Diversity within categories Distinctive features of rural ▪ Older than average population – implications for ‘replacement demand’ ▪ Selective out-migration of more qualified young people ▪ Establishment profile (skewed

towards small employers), sparsely

distributed populations, transport issues pose difficulties in delivering training

Access to employment – job seekers

▪ Challenges facing job seekers in rural areas:

• relative lack of high-level jobs (‘thin’ labour market)
• limited opportunities for broadening experience
• limited public transport services for travel to employment and

to training ▪ Lower staff turnover than in urban areas (excluding seasonal jobs) ▪ Rural residents more reliant on social networks for seeking work than urban residents – those without strong social networks are particularly disadvantaged

POSSIBLE IMPACT OF MECHANISATION: SHROPSHIRE

Current Current Employment Employment% Numbers %Automation Numbers at risk (Bank of Eng)

• f automation

Mean Probability of Automation (OECD) % Aggregate # at risk of automation (OECD) Soc 2010 Major Group 1-3

60,700 40.40 22.29 13,528 37.31 22,645

Managers, Directors And Senior Officials

18,200 12.10 17.00 13.00 37.00 3,094 2,886 7,548 30.00 37.00 41.00 6,067 8,214 8,364

Professional Occupations

22,200 14.70

Associate Professional & Technical

20,400 13.50

Soc 2010 Major Group 4-5

35,100 23.30 63.44 22,266 49.30 17,304

Administrative & Secretarial

12,300 8.20 42.00 75.00 5,166 17,100 48.00 50.00 5,904 11,400

Skilled Trades Occupations

22,800 15.10

Soc 2010 Major Group 6-7

24,600 16.40 74.20 18,252 46.62 11,469

Caring, Leisure And Other Service Occupations

14,700 9.80 75.00 73.00 11,025 7,227 43.00 52.00 6,321 5,148

Sales And Customer Service Occs

9,900 6.60

Soc 2010 Major Group 8-9

30,100 20.00 66.20 19,926 56.83 17,106

Elementary Occupations

10,200 6.80 75.00 7,650 59.00 6,018

Nationally Seven key topic areas

• 1. A thriving rural economy
• 2. A digitally connected countryside
• 3. A place everyone can get around
• 4. An affordable place to live
• 5. A fair deal on health and social care
• 6. A settlement to support local action
• 7. A rural-proofed policy framework

A THRIVING RURAL ECONOMY

• The rural challenge
• Reducing the productivity gap;
• Helping rural businesses (especially SMEs) to

grow locally;

• Supporting further diversification, especially into

high value-added sectors;

• Sustaining high streets and their businesses in

rural towns; and

• Creating better paid and more secure jobs.

A DIGITALLY CONNECTED COUNTRYSIDE

The rural challenge

• Extending broadband networks to those premises

still missing out;

• Future proofing broadband policy, so rural areas do

not fall behind again

• Capitalising on the benefits from the roll out of

superfast networks;

• Addressing issues with mobile network coverage

(including 4G).

A PLACE EVERYONE CAN GET AROUND

• The rural challenge
• Reversing the widespread decline in rural bus

service provision;

• Making bus services a more attractive option

for rural travellers;

• Providing sustained support for complementary

community transport schemes;

• Ensuring future transport innovations will

benefit rural communities.

AN AFFORDABLE PLACE TO LIVE

• The rural challenge
• Bringing forward development sites at a price suited

to affordable housing;

• Making sure such homes are and remain genuinely

affordable;

• Planning new housing in ways which attract

community support;

• Ensuring the funding model for affordable house

building adds up.

A FAIR DEAL ON HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

• The rural challenge
• Ensuring that patients can get to secondary

and tertiary health services;

• Delivering quality primary health care locally

within rural settings;

• Making sure social care reaches those who

need it in remote locations;

• Benefitting rural clients through improved

health and social care integration.

• Staff recruitment and retention in rural areas

A PLACE TO LEARN AND GROW

• The rural challenge
• Sustaining schools with small (or fluctuating)

pupil numbers;

• Managing school budgets when operating costs

are high;

• Recruiting and retaining teaching and support

staff;

• Finding appropriate models for school

collaboration.

A SETTLEMENT TO SUPPORT LOCAL ACTION

• The rural challenge
• Ensuring that local authorities retain the

capacity to serve their rural communities;

• Boosting the capacity of parish and town

councils to bring about local solutions;

• Recruiting and retaining volunteers with

sufficient time and the right skills;

• Providing the support infrastructure to facilitate

community action in more areas.

DELIVERING RURAL RENNAISANCE

TO BE SUCCESSFUL A STRATEGY MUST BE: ➢Respectful and understanding of the past and the journey to date but based on the realities of now and into the future ➢Locally Defined and Agreed by the Council and its Partners ➢Locally Agreed and endorsed by the rural communities

DELIVERING RURAL RENNAISANCE

TO BE SUCCESSFUL A STRATEGY MUST BE: ➢Properly resourced ➢Delivered locally and in partnership based upon the needs of different areas ➢Stuck to be flexible enough to respond to changing needs, circumstances and

• pportunities

BE GENTLE WITH ME!!!!!!

QUESTIONS?