Rural Proofing – A Cumbrian Approach

Cumbriais one of the country's most rural counties and includes many of the most sparsely populated locations in England. Cumbria County Council is committed to considering how the impact of all its decisions might affect rural areas, this process is often referred to as rural proofing. 

Initially we developed our guide to help you think rural and rural proof your decisions. It includes practical examples of what we have done well in the delivery of services to rural areas.

New and emerging policy sets out how Government wants to see decisions about service planning and policy taken at a more local level. It wants service users and people affected by policy decisions to have a far greater say in how things are done in their area. It wants to see more flexible service delivery which is responsive to local views and influence. This should be good news for rural communities; in theory at least.

Government is in the process of introducing a new performance management regime for public service providers.   The Comprehensive Area Assessment seeks to assess the impact of public service delivery (not just local councils) at a local authority level (higher tier/unitary). Rather than measure impact solely against quantitative indicators it expects to focus on the quality of outcome delivered by public service activity. The assessment regime will place material weighting against the views and experience of local communities, and evidence of their involvement in the policy development or service planning processes. 

Good quality information and data are essential in targeting initiatives to address the issues in Rural Cumbria. As well as disseminating specific information held locally there are also links to a number of national sites which hold data on Rural Cumbria.

If you are searching for information about Rural Cumbria which you can't find via the reports and links below, please contact us and we will provide whatever assistance we can.