The Countryside Alliance today (13 November) attended the parliamentary launch of The Pretty Poverty Report: Cornwall Rurality Matters, a report on rural poverty in Cornwall published by Plymouth Marjon University in September. The report finds that official poverty figures, as measured by the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), underestimate the true extent of rural poverty and are unsuitable as a basis for rural policymaking and funding decisions.
Hosted by Perran Moon MP (Lab, Camborne and Redruth) and co-chaired by the Bishop of Truro, the event featured presentations of the report’s key findings and related research, with intervening discussions between panellists and guests including MPs from Cornwall and beyond, sector experts and representatives from Cornwall Council. It concluded with some thoughtful concluding remarks from Mr Moon.
The report, produced in conjunction with the Diocese of Truro, argues that the IMD has three key deficiencies that undermine its usefulness in assessing rural poverty. First, it seeks to identify the average levels of deprivation within geographical areas, but in rural areas poverty is often dispersed between more affluent households. Second, some of the indicators it uses are more applicable to urban than rural areas, such as recorded crime which tends to suffer from under-reporting in the countryside. Third, it assigns a relatively low level of importance to the deprivation category ‘barriers to housing and services’, including accessibility, which fails to account for problems with rural transport and the resulting over-dependence on private cars. In Cornwall – and applicably to other spare rural areas – the report argues:
“Transport Dependency emerges as the most significant barrier, with car ownership representing essential infrastructure rather than affluence. Rural residents face systematic exclusion from employment, healthcare, and social opportunities without private transport, creating an additional 'rural tax' invisible to income-based measures.”
These findings agree closely with research from the Countryside Alliance in 2022, highlighted the following year in a parliamentary report, which showed that rural households spend almost £800 a year more on fuel than people who live in urban areas, and pay up to 6 pence per litre more for petrol. Defra figures also suggest rural life necessitates longer journeys, with an average travelling distance per resident at 5,767 miles in 2020, compared with 3,624 miles for urban dwellers and 4,334 miles across England as a whole. This element of the ‘rural premium’ affects everyone living in the countryside, but those on lower incomes – many of whom may be delivering essential services – naturally feel the pinch all the more.
The Countryside Alliance has argued for practical measures to address these challenges. Looking ahead to the Budget on 26 November, we asked the Chancellor to maintain fuel duty at current rates by making the 5p cut, first introduced in March 2022 ostensibly as a temporary measure, permanent; maintain access for farmers to red diesel; not introduce a vehicle purchase tax levied at a higher rate for heavier vehicles that vulnerable rural dwellers more often rely on; and assure rural communities that their need for longer journeys and greater reliance on private transport will be reflected in any future proposal for a pay-per-mile road tax.
Ultimately, however, the problem of official reliance on poverty figures that do not reflect the reality of rural life is structural. That is why, earlier this year, the Countryside Alliance published a report offering practical solutions for creating a better relationship between the government and rural communities, ensuring that rural areas are no longer left behind. We have called for the government to adopt a new Rural Community Impact Assessment when making policy to ensure it is fit for the countryside; publish an annual State of the Countryside report bringing together accurate information on rural trends that would include a proper assessment of rural poverty; and appoint a Countryside Champion to lead these initiatives within government.
To support our work as a voice for all segments of Britain’s rural communities, please consider joining the Countryside Alliance today.