Announcing the latest in a package of measures which aim to support businesses in rural Britain, environment secretary Caroline Spelman has pledged £15 million to go towards supporting and growing business in the countryside.

The government claims its latest grant will lead to the creation of 3,000 jobs and 700 businesses. The measures come after announcements of other schemes within in the Rural Development Programme, which was unveiled following criticism over the effects the government’s policies are having on rural Britain.

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Rural residents have been shown to pay higher tax rates than their urban counterparts, for fewer services. There have been reductions in vital healthcare and education services; community spaces and infrastructure including pubs and banks are also closing rapidly in Britain’s rural towns and villages. Young people have access to fewer services and less opportunity to travel as public transport cuts take effect, and suffer higher rates of unemployment.

The government claims that, by adopting a package of measures, including rolling out rural broadband, creating support for apprenticeships and grants for businesses, it can revitalise rural Britain and stem the flood of country-dwellers moving to urban areas. In recent months, politicians from across the political spectrum have warned that government policy risks creating “ghost towns” unless something is done to address disappearing services and opportunities.

Ms Spelman today claimed that five new ‘Rural Growth Networks’ across England, which have been selected will seek to stimulate growth in the countryside by “Breaking down barriers to economic growth, such as a shortage of work premises, slow internet connection and fragmented business networks.”

She proclaimed, “Great business ideas have been held back by the challenges of a rural location for far too long. Altogether we’re spending £165 million to support economic growth in rural England, and shows once again that we are firmly on the side of rural communities.”

Pilots will be run over three years in five areas; Swindon and Wiltshire, Durham and Northumberland, Devon and Somerset, Cumbria and Coventry and Warwickshire. The government hopes to use information gained from the experiment to revitalise rural regions across the UK.

However, although the government has acknowledged that the selected regions have barriers it feels are preventing them from reaching their full potential, including limited training opportunities and poor infrastructure, ministers have not specified how boosting support for business will ease pressure on rural residents who are losing services and mobility.

£2 million to target enterprises led by women

The decision to use £2 million of the Government’s investment in Rural Growth Networks to target rural enterprises led by women has been celebrated. According to government figures, women are only half as likely as men to be entrepreneurs. The government claims that engaging with women is vital to sustainable growth.

However, with black marks against the names of two prominent ministers, it may take further remedial action before the conservatives rediscover their appeal to women; both Prime Minister David Cameron and Farming Miniser Jim Paice have been accused of sexist conduct in parliament.

Other measures in the government’s Rural Development Programe include moves to roll out superfast broadband to remote parts of the country, action to facilitate changing the use of farm buildings to address the shortage of rural business premises, a £25 million fund to promote rural tourism loans totalling £15 million for community-owned renewable energy schemes; and a more support for the agri-food sector.

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