Rural poverty still rife, study in region finds

from Yorkhire Post Today

By Paul Jeeves

POVERTY in the countryside has remained largely untouched for the last decade, a new Yorkshire-based study has revealed.

Research published today shows poverty and isolation for many in rural communities may remain at the same levels as those at the turn of the Millennium.

Hull University academics behind the study have now called on Ministers to revise the way that deprivation is identified and measured, as many of the criteria are too broad or do not apply to a rural context.

A research team last year explored the extent of poverty in Ryedale to provide a snapshot of the national picture, following up an initial study which was conducted in the North Yorkshire district in 1999.

While the latest report by Hull University's Centre for Research on Social Inclusion and Social Justice has found that the Ryedale district does not have high enough average levels of deprivation to often qualify for Government aid, many sections of the community are in desperate need of more support.

Gary Craig, Professor of Social Justice at Hull, who has overseen the research, said: "Rural locations like Rye-dale are largely thought to be comfortable areas where there is little deprivation.

"But if you look at the right level and in the right way a very different picture emerges. The Government needs to look at the way it tackles deprivation because at the moment its policies are not subtle enough. There is little point comparing deprivation in urban areas with rural communities; there needs to be a completely different way of thinking.

"We have got beyond the point where we apply criteria about how many children live in a flat above the sixth floor in a rural context and it was recognised that it simply doesn't work – but there is still a need to develop appropriate measures for rural areas.

"This latest study has shown that the overall picture of deprivation in Rye-dale has changed relatively little since 1999 and this raises questions about the effect-iveness of local and national anti-poverty policy interventions over the past decade."

Researchers claimed the elderly and young as well as minority groups such as the disabled and the gay and lesbian community in particular require improved services.

Farmers on poor quality, marginal land were also identified as one of a major group enduring low incomes while suffering from a lack of services such as health, education and housing.

The arrival of a growing migrant workforce since the expansion of the EU has also placed resources in the area under increasing pressure.

According to the report, 64 per cent of Ryedale's households have incomes below the national average of £22,000, with low incomes particularly prevalent in the south of the district and in the Pickering East ward.

But average house prices for Ryedale in August last year were £221,666, and the figure escalated in the commuter belt nearer York and Leeds. Prices in 2004 averaged £236,610 for homes closer to the two cities.

Ryedale District Council and Ryedale Citizens' Advice Bureau chairman Coun Pamela Anderson said: "There are some very real problems with rural deprivation. We have been petitioning the Government about the issue of poverty in rural areas for many years, as there is only so much we can do ourselves."

Ryedale Voluntary Action has 70 member organisations providing support and advice to tens of thousands of people across the district.

Chief officer Paul Hayward said: "The need is most definitely there but it is often hidden away in rural areas."

A Department of Communities and Local Government spokeswoman said the Government's effort to halt deprivation nationally were unprecedented, but "significant challenges" remained.

She said more than £40m has been allocated in neighbourhood renewal funding for rural areas nationally in the 2007-8 financial year.