Support policy for rural areas in England and Wales: its assessment and quantification

Abstract

Administrations in the U.K. and in the European Community which have responsibilities for rural policy are increasingly concerned with assessment procedures. This necessitates a much greater attention to the objectives of programmes than has hitherto been customary, to the evaluation of quantified output in relation to these objectives, and to the way that individual programmes relate to each other within the overall policy framework. In the absence of such a framework for the U.K., this paper synthesises a hierarchy of objectives based on the stated aims of the 40 public institutions active in rural areas in England and Wales and of the 170 programmes which they operated in the financial year 1987–1988. It describes the allocation of financial resources between the various objectives, the type of support and the nature of recipient. Within the conventions adopted, a single objective (the income support of farmers) clearly consumes the overwhelming majority of the direct public support. This suggests that a reexamination of the balance between needs and resource allocation is required, and that this can only be done effectively within a framework that encompasses a comprehensive consideration of policy objectives. In turn, this implies a reexamination of the respective roles of government departments and agencies and the relationships between them.