Rural advocate report uncovers poverty behind English rural idyll

One in five people in rural areas live below the government’s official poverty line, according to a new report by the rural advocate Stuart Burgess.

Appointed by the Prime Minister to put the case for rural people, Dr Burgess said that if the number of people living in poverty in the countryside were brought together, they would cover an area the size of Birmingham, sparking a national outcry.

“But, because the poverty is dispersed, the rural poor often do not receive the recognition or the support they deserve.”

Dr Burgess has spent the past two years visiting rural communities around the country, to hear their views on rural life.

The main areas of concern were a chronic lack of affordable housing, difficulty in accessing key services and poor access to training and employment opportunities, he said.

Some 9.5m people – 20% of the population – live in rural areas, and one in five rural households have an annual income of £15,000 or less. “Rural England is undergoing immense change,” said Dr Burgess.

“While the quality of life for the rural majority is good, there remains a sizeable minority whose lives are blighted by disadvantage, poverty and exclusion. This is a problem that is barely recognized and often not addressed.”

It was clear that many farmers felt under-valued and that their role as custodians of the countryside went largely unrecognised, he added.

Hill farmers in particular were still feeling the impact of foot-and-mouth disease, and many producers were facing bankruptcy due to delays in the single farm payment.

But there was a thriving business community, with one in seven of all businesses in England located in rural areas, although rural people felt increasingly disengaged and under threat, with little confidence in regional and national decision makers, he said.

Dr Burgess will use his report’s findings to step up pressure on Tony Blair for a better deal for the countryside.