Rural services: European policies and experiences

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Rural services European policies and experiences

• Dr Sarah Skerratt
• Senior Researcher Team Leader
• Rural Society Research

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Outline of presentation

• Rural services in Europe
• Typical challenges
• Why focus on rural services?
• Policy and other responses
• Diversity of solutions
• Solutions dependent on cultural and political
  histories
• Examples Finland and Scotland
• So? Next steps?

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Rural services in Europe typical challenges

• Low population density
• Low critical mass
• Ageing population
• High cost per head

SR Substantially Rural PR Predominantly
rural (OECD)
Source Copus et al, 2007, p.13
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Why focus on rural services? 1/3

• EC White Paper (2004) on Services of General
  Interest
• The access of all citizens and enterprises to
  affordable high-quality services of general
  interest throughout the territory of the Member
  States is essential for the promotion of social
  and territorial cohesion in the European Union,
  including the reduction of handicaps caused by
  the lack of accessibility of the outermost
  regions (Section 3.3., p. 8)

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Why focus on rural services?2/3

• The demographic structure of rural regions is
  often not appropriate to support provision of
  local public services. Because these regions have
  difficulty in establishing the necessary critical
  mass of facilities, producer services and
  infrastructure the economy does not generate
  employment opportunities and there are strong
  incentives for young people to move away. This
  kind of vicious circle, in which unemployment and
  lack of services lead to rural exodus has been a
  common pattern in rural regions ever since the
  agricultural sector began to shed unemployment
• (OECD (2006) New Rural Paradigm, pp.30-31)

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Why focus on rural services? 3/3

• Local public services are a precondition for
  development, and are not only related to the
  well-being of the population, but also to the
  potential to attract and retain economically
  active population, enterprises and, thus, growth
  and sustainability of population settlements
  (OECD, 2008).

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If notCycle of decline
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• So, given that there is agreement
• How are rural services addressed through rural
  policies in Europe?

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First, some history of EU policy

• Innovative approaches to service delivery and
  place-based tools are providing some solutions,
  but the overwhelming financial focus of EU rural
  development policy remains sectoral policy and
  agriculture subsidy oriented
• (OECD, 2008, p.2)
• Some argue that rural development would have even
  less funds if it werent for the agricultural
  lobby, e.g.
• In Europe, rural development interests benefit
  from being part of a coalition via the CAP that
  includes agriculture. (Shortall, 2008, p.36)

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What does this mean?

• In EU, spending for rural development (that is,
  beyond the land-based sector) therefore remains
  tiny
• It remains fragmented, both between and within
  Member States
• It is compartmentalised, e.g.
• LEADER (main bottom-up rural development tool)
  one-third of one percent of the EU budget for
  agriculture and structural operations
• Also, there is subsidiarity two examples gt

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Subsidiarity - an example

• Universal service is a key concept the Community
  has developed in order to ensure effective
  accessibility of essential services.
• It establishes the right of everyone to access
  certain services considered as essential and
  imposes obligations on service providers to offer
  defined services according to specified
  conditions
• The concept allows common principles to be
  defined at Community level and the implementation
  of these principles to be left to Member States,
  thus making it possible to take account of
  specific situations in each country, in line with
  the principle of subsidiarity (Section 3.3.,
  page 8)

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Another example Rural Development Regulation
2007-2013

• Rural Development Regulation overall design at
  EU level (4 Axes and a range of Measures), with
  MS discretion.
• This means that
• Member States are implementing their Rural
  Development Programmes gt
• 94 national regional rural devt progs operating
• Different MS balances between Axes, and new
  challenges
• Different levels and amounts of MS co-funding

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What does this mean for rural services in Europe?

• Where strong national (Member State)
  interventions exist, rural services can be
  addressed in a relatively coherent way
• Otherwise, rural services continue to be
• Compartmentalised into sectoral budgets, rather
  than place-based/territory-based
• Subject to short-term pilots or interventions
• Subject to political priorities and changes
• Incoherent gt hot spots and not spots
• This is one consequence of subsidiarity

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Two examples of how Member States are addressing
rural services
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Finland and Scotland policies

• Both similar population size approx 5M
• Although density Finland 17/km2 Scotland
  65/km2)
• Finland (INTEGRATED rural devt policies)
• Leading example of best practice in EU since 1988
• Concept of integrated rural policy may be more
  fully applied in Finland than in any other EU
  country (Halhead, 2004)
• Scotland (National Performance Framework)
• National Framework underpinning respectful
  partnership between central and local government
• National Service Outcomes
• EU Regional Priorities LEADER

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Finlands rural areas

• 3 types
• Urban-adjacent
• Rural heartland
• Sparsely populated rural areas
• 89 of territory 5th highest in OECD countries
  
• 53 of total population 2nd highest in OECD
  countries

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Finland national RURAL policy

• Broad
• Includes all policies and actions of government
  which can impact on rural areas national
  regional all sectors.
• Narrow
• Focuses on measures and tools specifically
  targeted at rural development, both EU and
  national.
• Regionally-specific, cross-sectoral co-operation,
  extensive partnership and participation
• Developed by Rural Policy Committee (most
  Departments, MPs, national rural organisations)
  established 1988.
• Evolved through national administrations
• Coherent policy fabric, incorporating EU Progs
• New Rural Programme every 4 or 5 years
• Underpinned by Local Action Groups, Village
  Action Groups, Municipalities etc

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How are rural services delivered?

• Municipalities produce about 2/3 of basic
  services
• essential and frequently needed services such as
  education, social and health care, culture,
  environment and technical infrastructure.
• The rest is produced by the national government,
  private sector and non-governmental
  organisations.

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Rural services priorities in Finland

• Policies oriented to restructure the service
  delivery mechanisms and foster co-operation
  between local authorities.
• Innovative ways of service delivery such as
  multi-functional and multi-purpose points of
  delivery, mobile services, telematic and
  electronic services
• Involving the private and the third sectors in
  the delivery of public services
• Triple Quadruple Helix Models in Northern
  Periphery

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Integration of people into process

• Integration of hot spots, ideas, actions
  individuals into national framework and strategy

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Paijanne 5-Villages network around lake an
individual with vision

• Key features
• Seasonal
• Events Issues
• Intranet
• Network-building,
• offline online

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Café with internet facilities and support,
targeting all ages
Another individual with vision
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Finland a conclusion

• The mainstream Local Action Group method will
  supersede the EUs agriculture-based approach to
  rural economic development, which is conceptually
  obsolete (Eero Uusitalo, Secretary General,
  Rural Policy Committee, Finland)

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Rural Scotland

• 75 predominantly rural top 10 of OECD
  countries
• 17 population living in rural regions (OECD
  share 23) and it is rising, especially in
  accessible regions

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Scotland classification of rural areas
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Until 2007

• Several reviews of rural services (since 1999
  when Scottish Parliament began)
• No specific rural services policy still
  sectoral (transport, health, education)
• Rural Service Priority Areas (RSPAs) were
  identified but a new Government came in, with a
  new framework RSPAs disappeared
• Individual agitation and action gt service
  delivery in rural Scotland, where
• private companies would not step in and
• Government did not want to distort market

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Pulteneytown Peoples Project

• One of 15 most deprived areas in Scotland
• Sustained since 2002
• Resident survey of local needs
• Housed in local community
• Breakfast after-school club
• Independent living for 16-25 year olds
• Skills training
• Numerous awards

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Scotland policy landscape
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We live in well-designed, sustainable places
where we are able to access the amenities
services we need
We have strong, resilient supportive
communities where people take responsibility
for their own actions how they affect others
Our public services are high quality, continually
improving, efficient responsive to
local peoples needs
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Single Outcome Agreement
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Regional Priorities Thriving Communities
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EU LEADER

• 20 LAGS covering 95 rural Scotland
• Budget 5 of SRDP 38M
• Bottom-up method of delivering support for rural
  development through implementing a local rural
  development strategy.
• Capacity-building
• Multi-partner (3 sectors)

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So rural services in Scotland

• We still have hot spots and not spots
• Within Regional Priorities LEADER
• We see projects, but still within project
  lifecycle, competing for funds
• 3 different administrative areas at same level
• With National Performance Framework
• beginning to see more emphasis on local,
  place-based fitting into strategic plans and
  outcomes
• Outcomes across Government Directorates

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From these examples

• What are next steps for rural services policies?
• Meaningful, workable partnerships, through
  devolution within national framework
• Diversity - integration harness peoples energy
• Move from spending to investment (lengthen
  the timeframe, be strategic, focus on outcomes
  rather than outputs)
• Align investment with strategic outcomes
• Stability over time (as in Finnish policy)

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OECD Next steps?

• Supply of services should be designed to match
  characteristics and assets of different rural
  regions
• Government should move from a logic of spending
  to a logic of investment
• Effective and inclusive governance is key to
  rural service delivery
• Recognise change in role for top-level government
• Facilitate knowledge-pooling and simplify
  decision-making processes
• Engage local communities and integrate local
  expectations
• Mainstream rural proofing of sectoral policy

(OECD, 2008)
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