Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Rural Business and the Rural Powerhouse entitled The Rural Premium, published on April 2023.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra regularly publishes statistics on a range of social and economic topics and provides broad comparisons between Rural and Urban areas by settlement type, including assessment on the rural economy, transport, housing and cost of living. These are available through The Statistical Digest for Rural England.
This Government is committed to improving the quality of life for people living and working in rural areas, so that we can realise the full potential of rural business and communities. We have made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed to ensure that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.
The specific challenges and opportunities that make rural economies distinctive can be harnessed by funds such as The Rural England Prosperity Fund which provides targeted support to rural businesses and communities.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he will take to take to support remote rural businesses in 2023 to help assist those organisations with financial planning for 2024.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
At the Autumn Statement, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £13.6 billion of support for businesses over the next five years, reducing the burden of business rates for SMEs.
The Government is providing a range of support to help small and medium-sized businesses across the UK with rising costs, including those in rural communities. Government has cut fuel duty for 12 months, raised the Employment Allowance to £5,000, and is zero-rating VAT on energy-saving materials.
The ‘Help to Grow’ schemes help SME businesses learn new skills, reach more customers and boost profits. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a price reduction to ensure that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from high energy bills.
Furthermore, the British Business Bank’s Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, Midlands Engine Investment Fund and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund all work with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), combined authorities and Growth Hubs, as well as local accountants, fund managers and banks, to provide a mixture of debt and equity capital to SMEs across their entire regions, including in rural locations.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the APPG for Rural Business and Rural Powerhouse Levelling Up the Rural Economy: An Inquiry into rural productivity, published on 27 April.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We welcome this report which highlights some of the key challenges for rural areas.
We are providing funding to put in place the infrastructure that rural areas need. We are investing £5 billion so hard-to-reach areas can get gigabit speeds. Over 67% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband. The Government-led £1 billion Shared Rural Network will also roll out fast and reliable 4G coverage to 95 per cent of UK landmass.
We are committed to levelling up rural areas, with over £2.6 billion committed nationwide via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to spread opportunity.
The Government has made a clear commitment to rural proofing. We will publish the second annual Rural Proofing report following our Levelling Up White Paper which will set out the Government’s approach to levelling up in in rural areas and targeted approaches where needed to develop rural infrastructure services.