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Rural Communities (Recession)

I do not have those figures immediately to hand, but I will come back to the hon. Gentleman. The percentage is relatively low—probably just over 2 per cent., but the trend and the effect of the increases on the community are worrying. All those people have lost their jobs, with little prospect of getting new ones in the short term. My constituency has a high proportion of retired people, but it is disheartening for those of working age, particularly those who are just starting out on their working lives, to struggle to find employment. To make matters worse, in the past 18 months, despite protests from me and others in the constituency, the Government have closed two of our three jobcentres. Those in Wimborne and Shaftesbury have been closed, leaving only one in the constituency, in Blandford. It is open only two days a week, by appointment. That means that those who are unemployed cannot just walk into a jobcentre but have to get on the telephone or use the internet to make initial contact. They are then sent not to the jobcentre in Blandford, but either to Yeovil, which is 20 miles away even from the closest point in my constituency, or to Poole, which is 25 miles away from those who live in the northern part of my constituency, for the initial interview. That is disheartening for anyone who loses a job. It is unfair that my constituents do not get the opportunity to access vital Government services. In May 2007, I told the Government that the closure of the two jobcentres would hit my constituents hard when they needed a jobcentre the most. Having to travel long distances when there is little public transport puts an intolerable burden on an increasing number of people. An unfortunate consequence of the jobcentre closures is the withdrawal of essential assistance and advice. Local citizens advice bureaux have reported to me a ballooning number of people seeking their advice and assistance on matters that Jobcentre Plus should be tackling. It was disappointing that the Department for Work and Pensions turned down an offer from North Dorset citizens advice bureau to make its facilities available to Jobcentre Plus and host its employees free of charge. I want next to consider communications, post offices and the broadband connection. I know that the Minister knows a little about such things. The Government insisted—perhaps it was the Minister himself who did so—on eight post office closures in my constituency. That had a huge impact on the availability of services and on rural businesses, including vital village shops. There has been a drop in the footfall and therefore in the trade in those shops because of the closure of the post office counter. The Government have withdrawn important services—simple things, such as the renewal of car tax, access to savings accounts and obtaining passport forms—that residents in rural areas had much more difficulty in getting anyway. The Minister might say that the services are available online—they are. However, many of my constituents are older and do not have access to or struggle to use the internet. In some parts of my constituency, broadband access is woefully slower than in towns and cities. In some areas, there is no broadband connection. Last month, South Tarrant Valley parish council contacted me with concerns about the inconsistency and deficiency of broadband coverage in the four villages for which it is responsible. According to the parish council, internet service providers have no plans to upgrade lines to the affected areas as there is insufficient commercial demand in less populated districts. The absence of high-speed broadband connections has far-reaching consequences for entrepreneurs and local businesses trying to operate in rural and semi-rural Dorset. Promises of universal broadband access were welcomed, but there are serious concerns. The Minister said earlier that from a European Union fund the entire United Kingdom would get £12 million. That is a drop in the ocean given what is required to invest in necessary rural broadband services, which the Government claim they will deliver. Perhaps in his winding-up speech, the Minister will tell us what else the Government plan to do to ensure that all households have access to good internet connections. That affects not only access to Government services but businesses' ability to carry on with their work from rural areas. I have long campaigned for the post office to be more than the place where people send their mail or buy stamps. Post offices could be the hub for local people to access Government services—a one-stop shop for local government and central Government, accessible to a huge proportion of the population. As well as providing layers of government in one place, it would increase the all-important footfall that the Government claim is too low to make rural post offices sustainable. In many villages in my constituency, the only retail business left is the village pub. In the past couple of weeks, I have received nearly 100 representations from constituents about the increased duty on alcohol and the impact on their local pubs. I am sure the House agrees that the village pub is an integral part of any rural community. Since 2005, the rural county of Dorset has lost some 36 pubs—nine in my North Dorset constituency. That has inevitably had a detrimental effect on community spirit and rural life. The Government have penalised the millions of people—I include city dwellers in this—who enjoy a pint after work or on a Sunday afternoon. The tax regime ought to work against those who consume excessive amounts of drinks with a high alcohol content on Friday and Saturday nights, not against the beer drinker. Binge drinking is obviously a problem in our cities and large towns, although Dorset police tell me that binge drinkers cause a nuisance in some towns in my constituency as well. However, the Government appear to be intent on penalising sensible drinkers, together with the less than sensible. I cannot stress enough how important local pubs are to rural and semi-rural life, not just economically but in terms of their effects on the community. The closure of our village pubs—forced to close because people cannot afford to visit them as once they did—is painful for local communities. I urge the Government to think carefully about how attempts to deal with binge drinking will affect those important amenities. We will discuss business rates later this evening, so I will not speak about them, other than to say that they are also a particular concern to rural businesses in my constituency. The rural economy is not just about agriculture and tourism; it is manufacturing, as in my constituency, and often high-tech, state-of-the-art manufacturing, at the forefront of technology. If the Government are to address the recession and the effect that the economic downturn and the unemployment that is its consequence are having on ordinary people's lives, they must be even-handed. They must focus not just on their heartland, but on the rural areas of Britain.