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Rural Communities (Recession)

I understand that the DWP has suspended any further closures, particularly in these difficult economic times, but I recognise that there has been a rationalisation of jobcentres and benefits agencies, the creation of Jobcentre Plus and an attempt to ensure that appropriate and necessary assistance was provided as efficiently as possible. Economic development in a rural context needs to be based on a 21st-century understanding of businesses in rural areas—one that is not constrained by a nostalgia but that recognises the dynamism, diversity, interconnectedness and value of our rural businesses and communities. In many respects, rural communities are no different from any other; people there want not only well-paid and secure employment and somewhere decent to live, but long and healthy lives and a good education for their children. It is therefore perhaps no surprise that the impacts of the current recession on rural areas are very similar to those in urban areas. More specifically, when the comparison is made with urban areas the emerging picture in rural England is one of lower risk, higher resilience and higher recovery prospects. So it is worth pausing for a minute to examine what is really happening in rural areas. In April 2009, 2.5 per cent. of the working-age population in rural England were claiming unemployment-related benefits, compared with a figure of 4.6 per cent. in urban areas. The labour force survey for the first quarter of 2009 showed that 18.5 per cent. of the 254,000 people made redundant in the previous three months came from rural areas—the percentage roughly corresponds to the 19.3 per cent. of the population who live in rural areas. The agriculture industry is specifically helped by the stability of demand for its produce, compared with other sectors of the economy. New tractor registrations—not a statistic that I have cited much in my political past, but one that I shall be looking at in future—which are traditionally regarded as a bellwether of the industry's confidence, increased by more than 6 per cent. in the first four months of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008.