4.7 Rural inclusion

In 2021 the rural population in the United Kingdom was about 16%. In the image below, you can see that nearly 82% of Wales is classed as rural, with approximately 32% of the population living in rural areas.

Maximise

Figure 18: Typology of areas within Rural Wales using ONS classifications of settlement type and setting

Show description|Hide description

Image shows the typology of areas within rural Wales using ONS classifications of settlement types and settings. The classifications for the predominantly rural local authorities are denoted as: Villages, hamlets and dispersed dwellings in sparse settings. Villages, hamlets and dispersed dwellings in less sparse settings. Small towns and fringe in sparse settings. Large towns in sparse settings. Small towns and fringe in less sparse settings. Large towns in less sparse settings. The classifications for the predominantly urban local authorities are denoted as: Villages, hamlets and dispersed dwellings in less sparse settings. Non-rural (cities, towns and fringe). A large area in the southern/eastern and a small area in the very north-eastern part of Wales is denoted as urban, a lot of which is given as non-rural. Most of the rest of Wales is denoted as ‘Villages, hamlets and dispersed dwellings in sparse settings’, with some areas at the northern and southern areas denoted as ‘Villages, hamlets and dispersed dwellings in less sparse settings’.

Figure 18: Typology of areas within Rural Wales using ONS classifications of settlement type and setting

Hybrid working potentially opens up opportunities for people living in rural areas to secure jobs that once were only available to those living in large towns or cities. As organisations embrace more flexible approaches to work, there are many factors that need to be considered to ensure an equal and equitable experience, including considering the cost and feasibility of sustainable commuting. Access to public transport can be limited and some people may have a low economic status.

Digital infrastructure in rural areas is often less developed, so the ability to work effectively remotely can be impacted. Rural communities are finding innovative ways to address this such as the Llanover Digital Inclusion Project (LDIP), [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] to use village halls to provide access to improved broadband provision, raise digital awareness and digital skills in the community, alongside the use of co-working hubs that were explored earlier in the course.

In the video below, Professor Michael Woods – Co-Director, Centre for Welsh Politics and Society – Aberystwyth University, who is one of the co-authors of The Rural Vision for Wales, evidence report, explains the considerations for rural inclusion.

Download this video clip.Video player: hyb_1_2022_sep119_rural_inclusion_michael_woods_compressed.mp4

Show transcript | Hide transcript

Transcript

MICHAEL WOODS:

So the Rural Vision for Wales was produced as part of a larger project called ROBUST, which is a European project, where we're looking at urban rural interdependencies. And we work with the nine predominantly rural local authorities in Wales, led really by their interests and what they wanted to do. And what we did in that Rural Vision was to set out nine priority areas for future rural policy in Wales. And we've included things like upskilling the population, developing infrastructure, revitalising small towns, building community wealth and resilience, and a few others as well.

It's important to think about rural inclusion because about a third of the population in Wales lives in rural areas. So we're interested in developing any kind of public service or thinking about how we tackle inequalities, how we tackle issues around education and so on. We need both to think about the equality of treatment between those living in rural and urban areas, but also about inequalities within that rural area.

So the distinctions within rural Wales are twofold-- there are different geographical experiences of rurality within Wales. So for example, if you live in a relatively accessible area close to the M4, close to the A55, you have greater access to cities and urban areas and the services and facilities they have than those living in much more remote areas of, say, the Cambrian mountains or Snowdonia. And there's also a difference between whether you live in one of the small towns of rural Wales or in more open countryside.

We also, of course, have a cultural distinction that in large parts of northern and western Wales, the Welsh language is significant, which is less so in, say, parts of Monmouthshire or Powys. And that builds another dimension, I think, into the character of life in those areas, how people think about their place, the importance they put on that, and experience of access to services, and of cultural life in those communities.

But there's also a second dimension to thinking about inequalities within rural Wales, and that is of social inequalities. I think often there is an assumption that rural areas generally are more prosperous and urban areas or have less poverty. Certainly, we think that poverty is very visible in more urban areas. We see the scars of deindustrialisation, you can see concentrations of poverty in certain neighbourhoods and estates maybe.

All of that is less obvious in rural areas, but it doesn't mean that poverty doesn't exist. Indeed, probably a third plus of the rural population is struggling in some way to meet the costs of living, especially with rising costs at the moment. One of the key trends we're now seeing as we are coming out of the pandemic is that there is a shift towards more remote working as a legacy of the pandemic where people were working at home. And tied with that is an appreciation on the part of people that, as they're working from home, they are less tied to a particular workplace, less tied to living close to the workplace.

And therefore, there's growing interest in living in rural areas. That offers particular possibilities for places like rural Wales. It may become easier to keep younger people in rural Wales, for example, or to allow people who have young families to return back into communities. It might help to address some of the uneven age profiles of some rural communities, to have more people around you in order to support local services.

So there are some who see positive benefits of that trend coming through, but there's also concerns. There are concerns, for example, that interest in living in rural areas will help to continue to fuel house prices. That then may increase employment competition for workers, employees in many parts of rural Wales. In fact, local businesses may not be able to compete with the salaries being offered by larger national, international companies and organisations for remote working.

But there's also challenges when we look at younger people. So there is an overall trend across rural Wales of out migration of young people. That is partly driven by access to suitable employment opportunities. It's partly driven by access to affordable housing. It's partly driven by a wish to experience the wider world, to live in a more urban place and the cultural opportunities that affords. But as we start drilling down into that group of younger people, we also see that there are some gender differences which start coming out there.

So as a rule, young women are more likely to move away than young men. And that might be about the kind of opportunities available in the workforce locally. It might be other reasons. But it does create a clear distinction, which is there. And it does mean that we have a group, perhaps particularly of-- for want of a better word-- left behind men or stayers men, young men who are staying in those rural areas. That may be through choice. That includes often young men who are expected to inherit a farm or work in a farm or go into other local family businesses.

Within that group, a greater interest from young men in rural communities compared to young women in setting up their own businesses or being self-employed. So what we found in the survey was that nearly a third of young men said their ideal working environment would be running their own business or working for themselves. And of course, that is actually an interesting finding. But actually, it points to the fact that more support for entrepreneurship amongst young people could be one way of keeping more young people in rural areas.

But we then need to think of the additional demands for that. And this comes back to demands for education and training, not only in appropriate skills, but also in entrepreneurial activity, in running a business. It involves thinking about how we support the digital skills of those cohorts and how we actually enable start-up businesses to have access to the appropriate digital technologies they need to run in that way.

There can be challenges, difficulties of doing things on our own, particularly in smaller rural communities. And we do see evidence of issues of mental health from men living in rural areas. There's been particular concerns about mental health in the farming community. But I think that also expands into other economic sectors as well. Just that the expectations put on farmers and others who are running their own businesses in often challenging economic circumstances in small communities, the lack of support networks through peers or through wider organisations in those rural communities, that can often go under the radar.

And I think there is increasing concern about that, and the need to offer support. And again, digital technologies may provide part of the answer to that. There are schemes which are looking, for example, at using smartphones as ways of creating networks and trying to draw people who are working on their own in rural and in remote rural places into wider networks, creating social bonds, given access to facilities through that. So once again, digital technologies can be part of the answer to that, but only work if there is a signal, if there is a broadband connection to make that connection.

As we're coming out of the pandemic, one of the trends we're seeing is that there is a lasting shift towards remote working. And that can be quite significant. So actually, in 2011, only about one in 10 employees in rural Wales worked from home. The Welsh Government now has a target of aiming for 30% of the Welsh workforce working from home. And of course, as people work from home, they are less reliant on being close to their workplace. And therefore, they're realising that they have more flexibility about where they may live. And for many, that's turning into an interest to moving into rural communities.

Now, that has potentially both positive and negative consequences for rural Wales. On the positive side, there is the possibility that it might help to keep more younger people in rural Wales by creating more employment opportunities. It may help younger families to return to rural Wales to settle in some rural villages, which have become quite distorted in their age profiles. It will mean more people in small towns and rural communities during the day, helping to support local shops and services. So those are potentially positive sides of that shift. However, there are also concerns that a growing interest in moving into rural areas will help to fuel house prices in rural Wales. So I think more broadly in terms of the ways in which different workers with different needs then have access to some of the benefits, arguably, of remote working and working from home. They don't have the same capacity to have the residential freedom to choose to move to maybe a more rural location. They don't necessarily have the same flexibility to organise their working time around childcare, other requirements which others have seen as benefits out of remote working and one of the reasons why they may continue to do that.

So again, I think organisations need to be alert to this, to be alert to some of the new disparities between members of staff which may be arising from this. And obviously, it's not going to be possible to move every position to be remote working. And indeed, many won't do. One of the, again, factors, I think of, which is prevalent in rural locations, if people are living in relatively isolated rural localities, there often was, I think, an interest in coming into work to meet others. That's where you intersect, that's where you meet people. It's partly coming in that you then have the ability to call off in town and shop and whatever. So I think actually, although there's an assumption that remote working is tied to an interest in living in rural localities, actually, for many who do live in rural localities, the act of traveling into workplace and being with others in a workplace is significant for them and for their mental health.

The wider embeddedness of digital tools, of access to online teaching creates more opportunities in that way. It creates opportunities in health care provision, that the fact we've become used, in a sense, to having a online consultation with a GP. It does open opportunities about how those GPs deliver services to smaller rural communities, to people living in isolated rural dwellings, who might have had to travel in, which might have been difficult due to feeling unwell, who might not have access to public transport, who might have problems if they're elderly in that way. And that actually, I think, is beginning to address some of the aspects of exclusion, which had previously been experienced by many rural residents.

Migration in rural Wales is quite dynamic over time. And obviously, there are issues or questions around English migration to Wales, as well as international migration, which is part of how these things are considered. Overall, rural Wales has been relatively white, if you like, and British predominantly, in common with much of rural England. We are getting more mixed, more multicultural communities. And I think one of the hallmarks actually, particularly when it's come to refugee resettlement, has been the hospitality and openness of many rural towns towards migration and towards difference in that way. And I think there are small towns who've been quite pioneers in the way in which they've tried to reach out and to accept refugees, for example.

There's an awareness of the additional needs of migrants in terms of entering the labour force in rural Wales and meeting some of the demands of local business. So many international migrants are recruited because they have skills which perhaps cannot be recruited from amongst the local population. But for them to progress, maybe from some more manual jobs into higher skilled positions or into better occupied positions, there's sometimes a recognition of greater skilling required.

So there are some degrees of training opportunities for that, opportunities around digital skills, for example, particularly being drawn out, and of course, language skills are important. So part of the accommodation of new migrants into rural Welsh has been access to both English and Welsh classes, which have both helped in terms of integration within communities, but also widening opportunities for employment within the area.

End transcript

Download