National Guidance changed on thresholds for rural affordable housing
In a very welcome revision to the National Planning Practice Guidance, Local Planning Authorities are again able to set their own thresholds for affordable housing in designated rural areas. It goes a long way to meet calls for change by rural local authorities faced with having to forego affordable housing that would have been delivered […]
£1m funding opportunity for organisations in England working with young people
UK Youth is delighted to announce it will be distributing more than £1million in grants to youth groups and organisations working with young people across England With funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, we will be offering grants of between £3,000 and £20,000 to deliver extra sessions in youth clubs and […]
Lives ‘at risk’ from long ambulance delays
The BBC and Shropshire Star reported this week that one in 16 emergency cases in England are waiting over an hour for an ambulance to arrive 999 calls are meant to be reached in 18 minutes on average. NHS bosses blamed rising demand and delays handing over patients at A&E. Despite increased staffing to try […]
Coastal and rural areas must not be left exposed by city-region devolution deals
On Thursday, the Yorkshire Post published early evidence suggesting a decade of devolution for Yorkshire, as ministers have already struck a deal with Sheffield City Region leaders A separate agreement for Leeds and West Yorkshire is expected to be unveiled in Chancellor Sajid Javid’s Budget on 11 March, after a positive conclusion to Wednesday’s talks […]
Lloyds Banking Group to shut 56 branches
YourMoney.com reported that Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed it will close 56 branches across the country between April and October, including 31 Lloyds, 10 Halifax and 15 Bank of Scotland branches in response to reduced customer demand for in-branch services Customers are still able to use the Post Office to access banking locally, alongside mobile […]
Openreach to expand fibre to rural villages and market towns
Several trade press outlets, including E&T Magazine, TechRadar and IT Pro have reported on news that Openreach are expanding full-fibre rollout to cover 250,000 rural premises in more than 200 rural locations by March next year The infrastructure firm has a lot of work to complete in the next few years if Prime Minister Boris […]
RSA: English towns need levelling-up with cities on devolution
Towns and rural areas in England must benefit from the next wave of devolution alongside cities, with a majority of all people in England wanting greater local decision-making, according to a poll carried out by Populus for the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) Boris Johnson plans to devolve more powers from […]
Village on Life Support
Stoke Saint Gregory, a small village in rural Somerset, is in danger of losing its heart. In the past few weeks its only shop closed and moved into a temporary Shop in a Box in a shipping container. The pub in the centre of the Village, is heading in the same critical direction. At present […]
Spotlight on the RSP – February 2020 Edition
Welcome to the February 2020 Rural Services Partnership Spotlight. We are thrilled by the ever-increasing interest in the Rural Services Partnership (RSP) and the variety of organisations that have joined in the last year. The RSP, in partnership with the Rural Health & Care Alliance (RHCA), has increased its membership to 203 organisations! To find […]
