New devolution bill amended to

explicitly recognise rural communities

The needs of rural communities must now be taken into consideration when decision-making power is transferred from central government to new strategic authorities, following new legislation

Under the government’s original plans, the new strategic authorities, which are being introduced as part of a wider programme of devolution, would not have been explicitly required to consider how locally-made decisions would impact rural communities.

This is now no longer the case, after a coalition of rural-facing organisations, including ACRE and led by the Royal Town Planning Institute, successfully lobbied the government to amend the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.

The bill is now an Act of Parliament, and sets out explicitly that one of the areas of competence that the new strategic authorities will need to consider when making decisions is rural affairs and coastal communities.

ACRE is now in discussions with Defra about how the new arrangements will work in practice and how it can contribute to the guidance that will be developed for the strategic authorities.

This involvement will ensure that ACRE Network members are able to make their voices heard when decisions are being made.

Further information on the wider devolution programme can be found online at www.navca.org.uk/devolution-lgr.