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Rural Economy Scrutiny Review

Chair: Paul Jagger MBE

Members: Cllr Ann McAllister, Cllr Carl Lis, Michael Oughtred, Bill Adams, Cllr John Harris, Cllr Shelagh Marshall, Naheed Arshad-Mather MBE

The scrutiny of the rural economy was carried out between September 2007 and March 2008. The review looked at two major themes:

Making Rural Areas More Enterprising; and
Regeneration of Rural Town Centres

In reflecting on whether the region is undertaking the right activities to ensure a sustainable economic future for rural areas, the Scrutiny Board also analysed a number of key challenges that are facing the rural economy in future years.

The Scrutiny Board held a public discussion with Yorkshire Forward, and a series of consultative interviews with partners and businesses. In order to get the views and perspectives of rurally based businesses and community associations, we held two focus groups, conducted a workshop with the Rural Affairs Forum and attended meetings around the region. The rural review also used this website where Assembly members and members of the public could comment on the draft report and share their views.

The Scrutiny Board made ten recommendations on how economic development in the rural communities of this region can be improved. These include:

To investigate how rural businesses can access face-to-face business support locally through a single point of contact
To ensure that the priority setting for economic development and regeneration is maintained
To increase the involvement of local authorities and other partners in delivering future regeneration projects in rural areas
To develop a strategy outlining how Yorkshire Forward will engage with rural areas and ensure that rural partnerships and local authorities are involved when investment plans are developed.

You can download the executive summary of the review and the full report below.

For more information, contact the scrutiny team.

Rural Economy Scrutiny Review - Summary