§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidelines his Department gives to local authorities in relation to safeguarding essential services in sparsely populated rural areas. [2648]
§ Mr. ClappisonThe Department is acutely aware of the need to ensure adequate service provision in sparsely populated rural areas. The Department's standard spending assessment, which calculates the revenue support grant for local authorities, already allows for the additional cost of delivering some services in sparsely populated rural areas.
The rural White Paper "Rural England" recognises that local authorities have a significant impact on the quality of life in rural areas and therefore encourages them to prepare rural strategies that identify local rural needs and develop policies to meet. Guidance and advice is provided by the three countryside agencies sponsored by this Department.
The recently launched rural services checklist which was announced in the rural White Paper encourages service providers to take account of the particular needs of their customers. Prepared in consultation with service providers and circulated to local authorities, it helps service providers meet the various needs of their rural customers.
The Department provides guidance to local authorities on housing strategies, stressing the need for those local authorities with a significant rural population to develop specific rural housing policies as part of their housing programme. The Department also issues guidance to local 800W authorities on the administration of the non domestic rates hardship relief scheme for village shops and post offices. This will be reviewed shortly and further guidance issued.