What is it about?
For more than 100 years the day to day interests and concerns of people and places in rural England were looked after by a series of organizations paid for, but to certain extent, idependent of, central government. In 2013, the last of these organizations, the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), was shut down by the UK government. It is probably too soon to be able to find out what, if any, effects, the closure of the CRC will have on rural England. However, this paper was written in an attempt to provoke a discussion about the possible impacts of the CRC's closure. The opportunity was taken to include a brief history of the organizations that operated during the 100 year period.
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Why is it important?
The paper summarises the changes that have occurred over the years, and concludes with a discussion about the possible implications of the - somewhat hurried - decision to close the CRC. After all, 100 years of (broadly) cross-party agreement on the need for the CRC and its predecessors suggests that there was a need for the work they did.
Perspectives
I worked for the CRC and two of its predecessors (the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Commission). I saw their strengths and weaknesses. On balance, I think the former outweighed the latter, and believe their work will be missed. I'm not sure, however, that it will necessarily, be noticed; hence one of the reasons for writing the paper.
Dr Gordon Morris
University of Exeter
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Who will look after England’s rural disadvantaged now?, Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, June 2015, UTS ePress,
DOI: 10.5130/cjlg.v0i0.4485.
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