Services
29 Nov 2015
‘Difficult’ spending review for councils
LOCAL authorities face a budget cut of 1.7% per year in real terms over the next five years. Chancellor George Osborne delivered his 2015 Spending Review covering the next five...
Read more29 Nov 2015
Defra faces 15% budget reduction
Defra has seen its budget reduced by 15% as part of the government’s spending review. Chancellor George Osborne delivered his 2015 Spending Review and Autumn Statement on Wednesday (25 November). In it,...
Read more23 Nov 2015
‘Steep decline’ for local bus services
NEW research shows a continued steep decline in council-funded bus services. The ‘Buses in Crisis’ report shows that £78m has been axed from local authority bus funding in England and...
Read more23 Nov 2015
Government urged to honour rural fairer funding promise
MPs and rural local authorities have called on the Government to honour a commitment to ensure rural communities receive fairer funding for public services. The call is being made by...
Read more23 Nov 2015
Funding shake-up for rural schools
A radical shake up is expected to see rural children receive more school funding for their education. Government plans due to be unveiled aim to revamp the system of state...
Read more18 Nov 2015
Call to support rural post offices
POST offices are central to combating social isolation in the countryside, a rural affairs champion has warned. Councillor Rob Humby, of Hampshire County Council, said more help was needed for rural...
Read more17 Nov 2015
Technology ‘will boost rural policing’
NEW mobile technology will boost police visibility in rural communities, says a police and crime commissioner. Matthew Ellis, Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, was guest speaker at the county’s National Farmers’...
Read more16 Nov 2015
Call for detail on broadband pledge
A government pledge to bring faster broadband to the countryside must be made reality, say rural leaders. It follows a promise by Prime Minister David Cameron that even the most...
Read more08 Nov 2015
‘Best teachers’ destined for rural schools
Outstanding teachers are to be sent into struggling coastal and rural schools, the government has announced. Education secretary Nicky Morgan said she was “acutely aware that recruitment isn’t easy at...
Read more08 Nov 2015
Fast broadband to become legal right
Everyone will have a legal right to request a 10Mbps broadband speed by 2020, the Prime Minister has pledged. David Cameron said the government was putting access to fast broadband...
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