MPs urged to support rural shops pledge
Launched last week, the 2023 Rural Shop Report (produced by the Association of Convenience Stores ACS) demonstrates the close links that rural retailers have with their communities, their importance as local employers, and the impact that store closures would have on the provision of groceries in rural and otherwise isolated areas.
Coastal areas need help to overturn inequalities, report says
The BBC reports that ministers have been called on to do more to help struggling coastal communities across England with levelling-up policies at risk of failing to turn around decades of inequality
Almost one in 10 local bus services axed over last year in Great Britain
The Guardian reports that almost one in 10 local bus services were axed in Great Britain in the last year despite government promises to improve local transport connectivity being a key pillar of its levelling up agenda
More affordable homes could be built in rural village and hamlets in the Derbyshire Dales
Derbyshire Live reports a Derbyshire council has secured new powers aimed at building more affordable housing in rural villages and hamlets
MPs told parts of eastern England are public transport desert
The BBC reports that MPs have been told that parts of the East of England are a
Learners in rural areas have to travel 70 miles for driving test, research shows
The Express reports that campaigners have condemned the “chaos” in the testing system which has left would-be drivers facing an average backlog of 15 weeks
