§ Lord Pattenasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list those of their policies that work to the benefit of people living and working in the countryside. [HL479]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Baroness Hayman)A broad range of government policies benefit people living and working in the countryside. We are making sure that we build the rural dimension into our programmes where relevant and tailor them as necessary to address the distinctive needs of rural areas.
Examples of policies which will benefit people in rural areas range from the Government's plans to create Regional Development Agencies which will bring a new strategic focus to regional economic development and help to tackle the problems of rural regeneration; the New Deal programme which will be sensitive to the needs of young unemployed people in rural areas; and the recently announced Village Shop Rate Relief scheme, designed to help protect an important rural service.