A new rural taskforce to help deliver the government’s missions
After years of lobbying as part of the CLA's Rural Powerhouse Campaign, Defra has announced the creation of a rural taskforce to unlock growth in the countryside
Representing member interests in the first meeting of its kind this week, CLA Director of Policy and Advice Judicaelle Hammond tells us about the latest government rural taskforce:
On 2 April, I represented the CLA at the inaugural meeting of a new taskforce set up by minister Daniel Zeichner at Defra. This “Taskforce on Delivery of Government Missions in Rural Areas” is aiming to do just what it says on the tin: look at the challenges and opportunities around the delivery of the UK Government’s five ‘missions’ in the countryside.
The CLA had been asking for a cross-government body to unlock growth in the countryside since before the election. This taskforce is a useful first step
It’s chaired by Defra non-executive director Heather Hancock, who brings significant business and rural experience to the party. A director in the family business which includes a pub, a restaurant, and land in North Yorkshire, she has also held senior positions at the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Yorkshire Forward, and the Food Standards Agency.
The taskforce brings together a dozen organisations representing rural business interests, communities, public services and academia. It will make recommendations on the policy measures needed for each mission and aims to report suggestions in July. These recommendations will in turn inform a “Rural Missions Delivery Plan” developed across government departments in the autumn.
On the positive side, it’s clear that Daniel Zeichner and the Defra rural team are trying hard to get other departments to take responsibility for delivering the missions in rural areas. This is crucial: some of the main barriers (planning, telecoms and grid connections, to name just three) are not within Defra’s gift to fix.
It’s also heartening that Heather Hancock recognises that, in order to persuade other departments to act, the taskforce will need to articulate the size of the prize or the missed opportunity - not just the problems.
To gain traction, the taskforce’s recommendations will need to be practical, lead to tangibly different outcomes, and be based on evidence. The latter is a challenge: while the government collects a lot of statistics on farming, data on other economic sectors in rural areas and their growth potential is not as granular. The CLA is well placed to contribute knowledge and data, based on the work we did pre-election for our ‘Programme for Government’, and more recently in the economic modelling we submitted to the Treasury for the Spending Review.
The taskforce will need to navigate the treacherous waters of fiscal constraints. With the prospect of government budgets being slashed, we will need to think creatively about low/no-cost solutions, but also about blending public and private funding. Yes, without a doubt, investment in rural infrastructure is needed, but the capacity of local authority planning departments and some of the planning rules don’t help and would not cost much to improve. Additionally, the current contribution and future potential of CLA members – in terms of housing and community provision, access to nature, and land stewardship – are still under-valued.
Of course, this is not the first time a group like the taskforce comes together under the Defra umbrella to shine a light on the needs and potential of rural areas. We can only hope that this time, there will be the political will and vision across the government to unlock the potential of the rural economy.
