Local MP presets petition to defend rural spending

Last night, Neil Parish MP, presented the Rural Fair Share Petition signed by  the residents of Tiverton and Honiton.

The Rural Fair Share campaign is calling on the Government to address the ongoing disparity in funding between rural and urban areas.

The campaign is set up to counter policies such as the rural penalty which sees urban areas receive 50% more support per head than rural areas.

The Campaign is set up by a group of MPs which regularly argue for a fairer funding balance between urban and rural areas.

The group’s Secretary Graham Stuart MP, said: "The Rural Fair Share campaign was established to encourage the Government to address the ongoing disparity in funding between rural and urban areas.

“The campaign will bring together Members of both Houses of Parliament, along with organisations, community groups, and individuals concerned about the welfare of our rural communities.”

Neil Parish said: “Overall residents in rural areas like Devon earn less, on average, than those in cities, pay council tax which is £76 more per person but see urban areas receive Government grants worth 50% more per head than those in the countryside.

“Devon is the fifth ‘oldest’ county in England with an average age of 45 and a growing number of the 75 and older age group. This means accelerating demand for health and social care in the future – something the funding settlement does not account for.

“Delivering services in sparsely populated rural areas also tends to be more expensive, which can add to the burden. Devon also has the largest single road network in England at nearly 8,000 miles making incredible hard to maintain.

“The Government is proposing to freeze this position until 2020. Freezing the system is indefensible, locking-in past unfairness and stopping changes the Government has itself agreed from actually being implemented.

“It is simply not enough for the Government to be sympathetic to rural life; it must act to change a system which is biased and unfair.”

The campaign has seen some success earlier this year with a promise by DCLG minister Brandon Lewis to support and manage the extra costs of delivering public services in the countryside.

Mr Lewis said he had already spoken to individual local authority leaders, councillors and other representatives. And he pledged that he would continue listening.

He said: "Because we are listening, we are going to do more to support rural areas and manage the extra costs of delivering services in those areas."

Mr Lewis also confirmed that he was open to having further discussions about the perceived disparity between rural and urban funding.

He said: "I have an open-door policy and am very happy to continue discussions, and I hope rural areas will be able to put together evidence -- perhaps through their Rural Services Network -- to back up some of their figures and prove their case."