My Lords, I declare my rural interests as set out in the register. It gives me great pleasure to support the noble Lord, Lord Foster of Bath, on Amendment 10, as well as consequential Amendment 303. As he has said, he has been deeply involved in promoting rural issues for many years. Although progress has been made, in particular with the recent publication of the report Unleashing Rural Opportunity, there is a long way to go to address the disparity in productivity between urban and rural areas, which can differ by as much as 18%. We need to take into account issues such as housing, connectivity, transport and energy costs and it seems clear that, economically and socially, there is much more to be done.
The noble Lord, Lord Foster, mentioned many of the reports that have been written and the actions that have followed. I add two reports from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Rural Business and the Rural Powerhouse, on which I sit. One was an inquiry into rural productivity and the rural premium, which explored the impact of the cost of living crisis in rural areas, the other an inquiry into rural productivity. Many organisations whose remit involves rural affairs contributed to these reports, including the CPRE, the CLA, the NFU, the Rural Services Network, the Federation of Small Businesses, Citizens Advice’s Rural Issues Group and many more.
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Positive action has resulted, and I will mention a few examples to illustrate the value of a rural-proofing report. The Government have recently committed £34 million to spend on skills and £7 million for a pilot scheme on satellite technology. They are looking at encouraging small rural housing developments by extending the concept of permissions in principle, supporting the funding of village halls, and consulting on extending permitted development rights for farm building conversions. They are funding rural housing enablers to identify affordable housing developments in rural areas, and they have appointed a rural connectivity champion to bring Defra and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology together.
Clearly, there is a recognition in government that there is a major issue in the levelling up of rural areas and that actions need to be taken, but the approach so far has been piecemeal. In this Bill and this clause there is the welcome opportunity to address the myriad rural issues with a rural-proofing report that covers the issues across all government departments.
To repeat what I quoted in Committee:
“‘The need to “level up” the countryside is as urgent as it is obvious … Rural homes are less affordable than urban homes. Poverty is more dispersed … making it harder to combat, while the depth of rural fuel poverty is more extreme than those facing similar circumstances in towns and cities. Only 46% of rural areas have good 4G coverage, and skills training and public services are harder to access’”.—[Official Report, 20/2/23; col. 1474.]
I therefore welcome the opportunity that the Bill gives to ensure that all government levelling-up policies take into account rural-proofing constraints, such as poor public transport, restrictive planning, geographic isolation, access to skills training, lack of digital connectivity and lack of affordable housing. For too long, those living in rural communities have lacked consideration in policy-making. The Government should take the view that rural-proofing can be an effective tool in assisting levelling up. The Bill could provide that by the adoption of this amendment.