RDC(3) P&D20

Rural Development Sub-Committee

Inquiry into Poverty and Deprivation in Rural Wales

Response from Monmouthshire County Council

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the inquiry into rural deprivation.  

The fact that it has been very difficult to find any statistical data to support the contention that Monmouthshire suffers from rural deprivation and poverty typifies the problem that the Committee is seeking to address. The pockets which are talked about are at such a low level that the available and recent statistics do not show that problem within Monmouthshire.  It has been our contention for some time that research commissioned to inform the review of funding formulae has been fundamentally flawed by failing to take account of the distinct nature of Wales.  The "small area” research conducted a few years ago defined small areas of population of about 4,000 people.  In Welsh terms this is not a small area.  It covers 2 wards within which there are all sorts of issues that are not seen by working on such a scale.  Monmouthshire is recognised as having residents with the highest earnings in Wales.  People who live and work in Monmouthshire are also amongst those with the lowest family incomes in Wales, as shown in Monmouthshire having the biggest problem with affordable housing in Wales (housing being nine times the average family income).  Extremes are hidden within small area studies based on English definitions of small areas and as a result true needs are not identified.  MCC calls for a fresh study into small areas defined within a Welsh context.

The County’s current unemployment rate is 1.2%. (620 people), the lowest in Wales; the Welsh average being 2.3% with places like Blaenau Gwent at 4.5%. At ward level the rate of decline in rural wards against urban wards in the county shows that unemployment is declining faster in rural wards than urban wards. The resident based weekly earnings are the highest in Wales at £388 (Powys is £329) and the annual salary’s are again the highest in Wales at £20,274 (Ceredigion is £16,091). The economically inactive is 18.1% (lowest in Wales) compared to the Welsh average of 24.9%.

In terms of population structure Monmouthshire does have one of the lowest levels of 20 -24 year olds at 4.1% of the total population compared with Wales average of 6.6% and 25 -29 year olds at 4% compared to Wales 5.5%. This is probably due to the high number of school levers going on to higher education and not returning, and young people in lower paid work having to move out of the County to find affordable housing. However at older ages the balance returns and Monmouthshire does not have a significantly higher older population than other counties in Wales 19.1% compared with Wales average of 17.7%. Indeed 8 rural counties in Wales have higher rates of older people.

The only objector indicator to give some credence to the rural poverty issue in Monmouthshire is work based weekly earnings. Monmouthshire is £373.2 compared to the Welsh average of £397.2 with Neath being the highest at £471.  In terms of salaries Monmouthshire is £19,852 compared to the welsh average of £20,781 with the Vale the highest at £25,346. Jobs in Monmouthshire are not highly paid, so those living and working in Monmouthshire are disadvantaged. Those that can are therefore seeking work outside the County but still like to live here. Out migration to work is therefore a major factor.

The following is an extract from the Adventa Local Development Strategy that was submitted to WAG last year as part of the Rural development submissions. It may assist the Sub-Committee to draw attention to extracts here.

Outward Migration - Due to its close proximity to the nation’s capital and other large cities, ever increasing house prices and subsequent lack of affordable housing, Monmouthshire suffers a higher than average loss of its young people. The 2001 census showed that only 21% of the population aged 15 - 34 year old lived in the area in comparison to the 25% Wales average. This has a severe effect not only on the loss of traditions and rural skills amongst young people but also on resulting low levels of young entrepreneurship in the county.

Out-commuting - Monmouthshire’s close proximity to large conurbations also results in high levels of out-commuting from the county. Out-commuting leads to lower levels of community participation and in turn to a loss of rural services as statistics show that out-commuters tend to shop and socialise in their work areas.

Loss of rural services - Monmouthshire has suffered a devastating loss of rural services over the last twenty years with many pubs and post offices being sold off for housing due to increasing land/house prices and a lack of local purchasers for businesses no longer regarded as viable. (There are now proposals will see a further 6 rural post offices closing.)

Increasing wealth divide - The disparities amongst Monmouthshire’s communities are vast - as 92% of Monmouthshire’s businesses are micro enterprises, Monmouthshire has one of the lowest average wage earnings in SE Wales. The situation is further exaggerated by Monmouthshire’s lack of high growth knowledge based businesses and resulting lack of career progression opportunities. The divide is further reflected in the higher skilled higher wage levels of out-commuters, those living in Monmouthshire have the highest earnings in Wales, and those working in Monmouthshire have some of the lowest. 

Decline in Agriculture - Monmouthshire is predominantly a rural county having a relatively low population density of 100 people per square kilometre compared to an average for Wales of 141 per square kilometre. In fact, over 60% of the population is concentrated in 20% of the county area i.e. the M4 corridor and Abergavenny district.

A dependence upon traditional farming in Monmouthshire has led to a struggling rural economy with poor employment opportunities and as a result, depopulation. The decline in agricultural activities has also had a significant impact on the landscape as some traditional farm holdings have been sold off to 'hobby’ farmers who have developed different uses for the land rather than agriculture. 

Turning specifically to some the questions presented:

Q1. In rural areas there is little opportunity for achieving economy of scale in the provision of services and higher costs associated with delivering those services e.g. recent WAO study on the cost of waste services in Wales. There are also issues of many people being asset rich but cash poor e.g. ownership of property that attracts high value, but unable to realise this as no lower cost options are available.  There is an expectation that the Council raises a higher proportion of its income through Council Tax, but this is a blunt instrument and is based on the notion of asset wealth alone.

Q3. There are a range of initiatives such as Sure Start, Flying Start, Communities First, EMA, Free School Meals, Genesis, Free Leisure Cards, but these are more difficult to access in rural areas.  Therefore they tend to increase the perception that urban area poverty/deprivation is being tackled and rural deprivation is being ignored.

Q4.  There is understandable concern with levels of deprivation in urban areas of Wales but the answer cannot be to deprive rural areas of sufficient funding to enable the effective delivery of services.   Concentrations of deprivation are easier to identify.  Funding has been skewed in the direction of statistically deprived areas for many years with absolutely no impact and this must question the prevailing philosophy of Assembly policy.  The overt policy of hugely skewing funding towards particular urban areas acts as a perverse incentive and rewards the dependency culture.  Therefore there needs to be both an adjustment in the degree of skew towards the easily identifiable areas of urban deprivation, and further work to identify adjustments in the funding formula that properly take account of the extreme diversity of need that exists within rural areas and ensures that the additional costs of the provision of basic services to those areas is recognised.

Councillor W.A.L. Crump
Leader, Monmouthshire County Council