Rural Proofing Guidelines unveiled

Guidelines to ensure government policies don't discriminate against rural communities have been published online. The rural proofing guidelines were published by DEFRA and are available here in a short amd simple two page leaflet.

Policy makers are encouraged to adopt a simple three stage process which is outlined in the document. They should allow for higher rural unit delivery costs in funding formulae or allocations. They could also look at alternative means of providing and accessing services in rural areas such as through the use of volunteers or social enterprise. Outreach, mobile services or localised delivery can reduce the need for people to travel to access or receive certain services. Alternatively, policy makers could consider better integration or improvement of transport links and avoid the thinking of one-size-fits-all.