The Rural Coalition has published Rebuilding Rural: Growing Back Better, which sets out a series of priorities for helping rural areas recover from the economic impact of COVID-19.

"Rural areas are home to 9.3 million people – more than Greater London – but they have long faced the challenges of sparsity, remoteness, poor connectivity and a history of unequal funding and patchy service delivery. Some communities which are heavily dependent on tourism and seasonal work are now at risk of being left further behind. The COVID-19 crisis has exposed weaknesses in the narrow economic base of some of these areas, but also highlighted the opportunities rural economies can make to the recovery."

The Coalition's priorities include:

• Opportunity for all in rural England – Levelling-up access to good quality jobs, homes, education and health services in rural areas with fair funding for public services
• A more resilient rural economy – More investment in skills, retraining and digital infrastructure, to attract new businesses to the area and increase economic diversity
• A major contribution to becoming net zero – Capitalising on opportunities for green rural growth, whilst helping to deliver the nation’s net zero emissions target

For further information, see the full document below:

Rebuilding Rural: Growing Back Better (PDF)