Learning how to weather any storms that come our way

Jun 6 2008 Agenda

As the rural West Midlands recovers from a turbulent 2007, Stuart Burgess outlines the way forward for "the jewel in our region's crown"

By any standards, the summer of 2007 was a challenging one for rural communities and economies in the UK.

Two severe bouts of flooding combined with outbreaks of foot and mouth - mercifully contained - served to make the summer months miserable ones for many who depend on tourism or land-based industries to make a living.

In a few weeks, we will be reaching the first anniversary of the flooding and destruction that shocked the country.

As a West Midlander, I became all too familiar with stark images in the media of the devastation caused to the Severn Valley Railway and Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

Photographs of Church Stretton, Stratford and Ludlow submerged beneath three feet of water with livelihoods washed away with the rainwater became national news and I even saw the devastation for myself when I visited Evesham at the height of the floods.

And pictures of police guarding precautionary exclusion zones around farms in Bickenhill will not be forgotten anytime soon.

My role as the Government's Rural Advocate has also meant that I have seen first-hand the way the West Midlands fought to cope with the aftermath of these economic shocks.

Following this summer of turmoil, Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked me to prepare a report into the way he might strengthen our rural areas, in order for such shocks - of which more must be expected - to be absorbed.

I must say that during my travels, I have met many wonderfully enterprising people.

Rural people display a strong sense of getting on with life, even in the face of some persistent or unique challenges.

One of the often quoted terms during the floods of last June and July was a 'Blitz spirit' among those hit hardest.

Given some of the devastation I saw, I don't think this was an overstatement. However, resilience alone is simply not enough.

If we are to accept that freak flooding events, such as those we saw last year, are more likely to become frequent as we move on, we must look at measures to protect communities, businesses and local economies.

In my report, I am recommending to Gordon Brown a new compact between Government, insurance companies and rural industries to improve response to shocks caused by disease and bad weather and to develop new insurance products.

For example, firms, employees and communities indirectly affected by environmental disruptions have even less opportunity to plan precautionary measures, insure themselves against losses or receive compensation than those which have been directly affected. This needs to be recognised.

Rural communities should be supported by Defra's Environmental Transition Fund to develop new forms of flood protection.

And, importantly, I support the Government's announcement in the 2007 Pre-Budget Report that regional development agencies be given the lead on handling economic shocks.

While I welcome this, I will be urging Gordon Brown to ensure this includes the recovery of businesses from environmentally-led emergencies or shocks.

The role of Advantage West Midlands, for example, in supporting the restoration of the Severn Valley Railway following the high-profile damage sustained there and, indeed, in throwing investment and support behind the shire counties in the form of tourism promotion throughout the drier months of August. September and October last year is to be applauded.

What is needed now is a more formal procedure for such instances.

It is important to remember that the old adage about prevention being better than the cure is certainly the case here.

Reacting to problems is important, but even more important is building a base where people are in a stronger position to help themselves. At the heart of rural communities' resilience to withstand and recover from these shocks, is their economic and social health - which is where I strongly believe Government must take more of a leading role.

Each year I meet hundreds of businesses, volunteers, residents, young people and elderly people and listen carefully to their views on the challenges they face. Time and time again, I hear the same familiar points.

Difficulties in recruitment, poor access to funds, shortage of start-up space, lack of affordable housing and low wages. This is quickly followed by too much regulation, poor broadband access, accommodation of migrant workers, poor levels of innovation ... the list goes on.

I do see some exemplar instances of work taking place to tackle these challenges.

Here in the West Midlands, for example, I know that the Rural Regeneration Zone is making tremendous progress in supporting diverse and dynamic small enterprises through the Enterprise HQ and Enterprise Centre network.

And Advantage West Midlands has been instrumental in driving the levels of broad-band availability in this region to among the highest in the UK.

But, I firmly believe that a more co-ordinated approach by the whole spectrum of agencies and stakeholders, driven by central Government, could help take this activity even further.

This is why, in my report, I am calling on the Prime Minister to convene a national Rural Summit and sponsor a series of regional summits to focus the attention and activity of government and its agencies, together with regional, city and local leaders, on realising the potential of rural economies.

I am proposing that the Government creates a Rural Finance Forum to examine and overcome the causes of lower capital investment, poorer access to finance and lower funding for rural economic initiatives.

We should also create a Rural Innovation Initiative to address the special challenges and opportunities offered by sparse or remote rural areas, building on the encouraging ideas outlined in the White Paper 'Innovation Nation'.

And finally, we need to develop new forms of brokerage, networks and clusters to boost access to support programmes and share good practice.

I passionately believe that our rural economies have a tremendous amount of unfulfilled potential.

The rural areas of the West Midlands are, in many ways, the jewel in our region's crown.

Areas such as Warwickshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire Moorlands add quality of life for many, including those who work in towns and cities, and, crucially, they bring millions of people to the region each year in the form of tourism.

And people living in rural communities are among the most enterprising and resilient people that I have had the pleasure to meet.

Often all they ask for is the removal of unfair distortions or barriers to allow them to compete and achieve their potential.

This is why I am passionate about making this happen and I hope my report to Gordon Brown will be instrumental in achieving this vision and ensuring rural communities can add up to a further £347 billion to the UK economy.

* Dr Stuart Burgess is the Government's Rural Advocate and Chairman of the Commission for the Rural Communities.