NALC raises rural governance concerns with ministers
We attended the Rural Coalition meeting on 15 April 2025, which covered several issues affecting rural communities, such as the ongoing energy crisis, the Rural Taskforce report, changes to the planning system, the implications of the Local Government Finance Settlement for rural services, and local government reorganisation and devolution.
Our chair, Cllr Iain Hamilton, pressed Dame Angela Eagle MP, the rural affairs minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), to ensure rural areas were not sidelined in local government reorganisation and devolution, warning that the growing focus on mayoral and urban structures risked leaving rural communities at a disadvantage. With strategic and unitary councils being established across England, Cllr Hamilton urged DEFRA to make the case that rural communities must not lose out to an overwhelmingly urban focus.
On neighbourhood governance, we stressed that any new arrangements must reflect rural realities and build on the vital existing structures of parish and town councils, cautioning that uniform large population thresholds to define neighbourhoods would be an inappropriate basis for rural areas. With government proposals still being developed, we urged DEFRA to ensure it properly reflected the rural dimension before the framework was finalised. We welcomed the minister's commitment to engage further on the issue.
The coalition also received a stark briefing from the Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) on the rural energy crisis, with heating oil prices having nearly doubled in six weeks, rising from £648 to £1,300 per 1,000 litres, leaving the 4.6 million off-grid households, mostly in rural areas, without the protection of a price cap. While welcoming the government's £27 million Crisis and Resilience Fund and plans to regulate the sector, the coalition backed ACRE's calls for a rural energy price cap, greater market transparency, and a dedicated long-term transition strategy for rural households.
Proposals to offer to work with the government to develop and test support measures ahead of next autumn and winter, to help fill gaps in existing research data, and to begin work on a long-term transition plan for rural energy, were also supported. The meeting also heard updates from member organisations, discussed plans for political party conferences, and noted progress on the launch of a new Rural Coalition website and LinkedIn page.
