§ Lord Pattenasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their definition of the word "rural". [HL2242]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The Government have no single definition of a rural area. At present we use different definitions for different policy purposes. For instance,184WA in deciding how to target help to local authorities which were hardest hit by foot and mouth disease we used a definition of "rurality" developed by the Countryside Agency. We recognise that there is a need for a more co-ordinated approach to the use of definitions of urban and rural areas. For that reason DEFRA, the Countryside Agency and the Office for National Statistics are working with the DTLR to better define urban and rural areas.