Throughout much of the UK, rural areas are facing some difficult issues and challenges. Although there are important national, regional and sub-regional variations, these typically include:
- a demographic profile which is changing markedly as younger people move away and older people move in;
- increasing challenges relating to the availability and affordability of housing;
- an economic structure which is typically quite vulnerable with an over-dependence on sectors which are in decline nationally;
- a changing relationship between market towns and the surrounding rural areas;
- major challenges in terms of service delivery.
Within the context of a fast-changing policy agenda – most recently encapsulated by the Modernising Rural Delivery programme – SQW has a long track record of work in rural areas, focusing especially on the economic and social dimensions. Our assignments have included strategy development and action planning in rural areas, working with local communities and partnerships, examining the issues relating to the effectiveness of service delivery, and evaluating a wide range of rural regeneration programmes.
Examples of SQW projects
Economic Performance of rural areas inside and outside of city-regions
SQW, in association with Cambridge Econometrics, was commissioned by Defra to investigate the impact of city-regions on the economic role and performance of rural areas both within – and outside – city-region boundaries. The context for this study was the growing interest attached to policy makers – at national, regional and local levels – to functionally-defined city-regions. Our study was divided into three phases. First we reviewed the academic literature and emerging policy documents to develop a set of hypotheses to test the reasons why the performance of rural areas might be affected by city-region processes and policies. Second, we tested the hypotheses using a wide range of data sources and statistical techniques, and also a number of case studies. Finally, we sought to identify the implications by considering the results of the study in discussion with key policy-makers.
East of England rural delivery – strategic assessment
SQW was commissioned by the East of England Development Agency to complete a programme of work as a key part of the Modernising Rural Delivery process in the East of England. The aims of the assignment were two-fold: to provide a strategic level assessment of the scope and effectiveness of current delivery mechanisms against the initial priority themes and outcomes set out in the Regional Rural Delivery Framework; and to identify how current delivery approaches could be adapted to meet these priorities more effectively.
ICT in England’s rural economies
For Defra, SQW undertook research into the differences in the adoption and impact of ICT by rural and urban businesses in England. In conjunction with market research partners NOP, a total of 2400 businesses were surveyed, testing a set of hypotheses regarding the impact of ICT on rural businesses and the barriers to ICT adoption, compared with their urban counterparts.
Evaluation of the Welland Strategic Alignment Project
SQW was commissioned by DTI and SBS to undertake an evaluation of the Welland Strategic Alignment Project – one of two national Pathfinders conceived to address issues of improving the coherence of business support delivery particularly to firms in areas which are remote and rural. As well as carrying out the longitudinal evaluation, SQW worked closely with the delivery and management team in the East Midlands to maximise learning that could be extracted from the experience and to ensure key lessons were fed back into the Pathfinder and were disseminated beyond the Welland in a transferable format.
Rural transport projects – evaluation study
As part of the implementation of Rural Strategy 2004, the Countryside Agency transferred the management of the Rural Transport Partnerships to SEEDA in April 2005. SQW was commissioned by SEEDA to review the operation of the partnerships and the rural transport projects operated in the South East under the Countryside Agency programmes. Additionally, we considered the much broader issue of Access to Services and the extent to which the lessons from RTP activity might inform the development of a new Access to Services programme in the South East
Research into North Yorkshire’s rural economy
Following the completion of a short scoping study, SQW was commissioned to complete a substantive period of action planning for North Yorkshire County Council and partners. The intention was to define catalytic projects that might help deliver the New Rural Economy in North Yorkshire. Our work focused on two themes: leisure and creativity, and farming and food.