What is it about?
The point of this research was to find out to what extent the projects started during the UK government’s Market Towns Initiative (2000-2005/6) were remembered. The information was gathered from a survey of approximately 200 town clerks. I also wanted to find out what types of similar, project worktown councils were doing at the time of the survey (2013), and to try to discover if they wanted more autonomy. I took the opportunity provided by the survey, to ask the clerks if their towns have foodbanks. Basically: not much was remembered sbout the projects; there was evidence of a desire for more autonomy; there were lots of foodbansk where there had been none five years earlier!
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Why is it important?
A lot of money was spent on the Market Towns Initiative (MTI), and a lot of good work was done. The MTI's life was cut short when the then government restructured and reprioritised. It is important, therefore, although late in the day, to try to evaluate the programme (however imperfectly!).
Perspectives
Times change, people move on, and priorities are rejigged to cope with changing circumstances. The findings from this research did not, therefore surprise me; at least those in relation to the MTI did not surprise me. The extraordinary growth in the number of foodbanks was a shock, however, as this was – is – happening in some of the wealthiest parts of the country (and in some of the wealthiest towns). It was still a shock when I resurveyed clerks about foodbank numbers in 2016 (see findings under related resources).
Dr Gordon Morris
University of Exeter
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: What’s left, what’s been done and what next? England’s 2000 Rural White Paper: Town council activities and a survey of town clerks, Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, July 2014, UTS ePress,
DOI: 10.5130/cjlg.v0i0.4063.
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