Three and a half years ago, the Labour-LibDem Scottish Executive published its second major rural policy document, the weirdly titled Better Still, Naturally. It was a chunky and colourful 90 pages, with a lot of sensible analysis and content. It even had the good grace to devote significant space to the Third Sector’s important role in delivering services, building community capacity and social capital, and advocating on behalf of rural communities. take a look at Speak Up for Rural Scotland and consider what you can contribute to building a stronger and longer-lasting statement of policy for Scotland’s rural communities.
Two months after it came out, the 2007 Scottish elections delivered a new government and the document and all the work that went into it appeared to just fall into the gap between administrations.
That’s not to say that the new SNP administration didn’t take rural issues seriously – given their electoral heartland it would be amazing if they hadn’t. From SCVO’s point of view, their commitment showed itself in several ways, including the funding of the Rural Direct service to support communities trying to get rural development funding for services and facilities (a funding stream that had stalled for years under the previous administration), support for our Village Halls Summit and a major piece of research on community buildings.
They also moved on other fronts including broadband, reduced ferry fares, land use strategy and a major review of farm subsidies, although their cutting back of Highlands & Islands Enterprise came in for considerable criticism in the north, and some were disappointed at the lack of further movement on the Community Right to Buy.
What the administration’s rural policy did not have was an overall framework, despite the existence of the the 2007 document which could have been used at least as a point of reference. One of the reasons it was sidelined was, I think, because it was based on a consultative process that only involved stakeholders sitting round tables in a government office. Not that there’s anything wrong with that: the policy community’s “usual suspects” play an important role in connecting up the activities of the people they represent with the actions of government. But a document produced only by policy people for policy people is unlikely to have deep roots, and can too easily be blown away by a change in the political weather.
Now, three years into the SNP administration, a new overarching rural policy document has appeared, called Speak Up for Rural Scotland. Although it is published by the Government and was introduced in last week’s TFN by Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead, it was written by the Rural Development Council, a body appointed to advise the Minister on how rural Scotland can best contribute to sustainable and economic growth.
The difference between this and the 2007 document is that it is being presented as a first step – a basis for discussion which is out for the widest possible consultation, through the Government’s usual channels and also a new consultation feature on the Rural Network website and a series of consultation meetings in early autumn.
An analysis of the consultation responses will be published in December and, although there is no overt commitment to turn them into a definitive statement of rural policy, Lochhead clearly states that its purpose is to “settle the future policy directions”. That settling will only happen if large numbers of people and organisations with an interest in rural Scotland read it and comment on it. The broader the response, the more difficult it will be for it to be swept away, whether by the election of a new government or a change in political priorities.
The trick is not to be put off by the ‘rural policy’ label. Most rural policy issues are not related to farming, forestry or environmentalism. They are subsets of housing, transport, health and social care, youth services and all the other issues that the Third Sector deals with every hour of every day. Whatever issues or sectors you and your organisation are involved in, there is very likely to be a rural dimension to your work, and your experience and ideas will have a place in this consultation.
Speak Up for Rural Scotland is a very readable document, divided into seven sections on the economy, land use, renewables, empowerment, sustainability, infrastructure and partnership. Each of these includes a number of Step Changes – 37 in all – that the authors see as necessary to the realisation of their vision for rural Scotland. By my quick reckoning almost half relate in some way to Third Sector activity, with a strong emphasis on engagement and activity across sectors, based on the view that rural people should make the choices that will determine their future. There is also a recurrent recognition of the importance of partnerships, skills development and capacity building, all of which are springboards for the Third Sector to set out its stall and to defend and expand on its achievements and ambitions in rural Scotland. I’ll come back to this in future issues of TFN and on this blog but meanwhile your homework assignment for today is to go on to the Rural Network website, take a look at Speak Up for Rural Scotland and consider what you can contribute to building a stronger and longer-lasting statement of policy for Scotland’s rural communities.
This posting is also published as an Analysis column in TFN.
