Rural Development Sub-Committee

Yr Is-Bwyllgor Datblygu Gwledig

Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1NA

22 January 2008

Dear Colleague,

The Assembly’s Rural Development Sub-Committee is undertaking a scrutiny inquiry into poverty and deprivation in rural Wales. The terms of reference for the inquiry are:

To examine issues relating to poverty and deprivation in rural Wales; and
To scrutinise the relevance and effectiveness of Welsh Assembly Government policy in this area.

The Committee is calling for evidence for the inquiry to inform its proceedings and recommendations. We would welcome the views of all those with experience or an understanding of the issues of rural poverty and deprivation, particularly in relation to the population groups specified above.

There are several definitions of poverty and deprivation. The Consultation document for the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation issued in summer 2007 made the following distinction between poverty and deprivation:

"Poverty means not having enough money (or other essentials to get by). Deprivation refers to problems caused by a general lack of resources and opportunities (not just money)”

Nine Local Authority areas in Wales are commonly agreed to be primarily rural in nature, namely Ynys Môn, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Powys, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Monmouthshire (2). However, other Local Authorities may have rural characteristics and areas, for example Flintshire, the Vale of Glamorgan and Wrexham. Whilst these definitions may be useful, the Committee would like respondents to focus on people’s experiences and whether anti-poverty and anti-deprivation policies address the needs of rural areas rather than try to define 'poverty’, 'deprivation’ or 'rural’.

Not all questions will apply to all consultees; please answer those questions you feel are relevant.

General

1. What are the poverty/deprivation problems faced by rural areas? What are the specific needs of rural areas in relation to this issue?

2. Are anti-poverty/deprivation activities best dealt with by the Welsh Assembly Government or by the Local Authorities? Why?

3. i) What anti-poverty/deprivation initiatives (Welsh Assembly Government or Local Authority) are you aware of?

3 ii) Do these anti-poverty/deprivation policies adequately address the needs of rural areas?

4. What specific measures would you like to see implemented by the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with poverty/deprivation issues in rural Wales?

5. What examples of good practice are you aware of in Wales/other parts of the UK/ overseas?

Population Groups

The questions below focus on poverty and deprivation in relation to children and young people, the economically active, the economically inactive and older people.

For each of the groups (or whichever is of relevance to you), please consider the following questions:

6. To what extent are these groups living in poverty/deprivation in rural Wales?

7. What poverty/deprivation issues are experienced by these population groups that are specific to rural areas? Please highlight any relevant evidence or research that you are aware of.

8. How do the problems of the 4 population groups differ across rural Wales (for example between areas in West Wales and East Wales)?

9. In what ways are any sub-groups within the four population groups particularly affected by rural poverty/deprivation, for example, disabled economically inactive people or female older people?

10. What are the most effective ways of tackling poverty/deprivation for individuals from these groups living in rural parts of Wales?

11. How can these problems be addressed by the Welsh Assembly Government?

Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Committee at the above address, to arrive no later than Friday 7 March 2008. If possible, please supply an electronic version in MS Word or Rich Text format, either by e mail to Sustainability.comm@Wales.gsi.gov.uk or on a disk.

Disclosure of Information

It is normal practice for the National Assembly to publish evidence provided to a committee. Consequently your response may appear in a report or in supplementary evidence to a report. The National Assembly will not publish information which it considers to be personal data.

In the event of a request for information submitted under UK legislation, it may be necessary to disclose the information that you provide. This may include information which has previously been removed by the National Assembly for publication purposes.

If you are providing any information, other than personal data, which you feel is not suitable for public disclosure, it is up to you to stipulate which parts should not be published, and to provide a reasoned argument to support this. The National Assembly will take this into account when publishing information or responding to requests for information.

Yours sincerely

Alun Davies
Chair, Rural Development Sub-Committee

(1) Welsh Assembly Government Consultation on the proposed indicators for updating WIMD June 2007 http://new.wales.gov.uk/consultations/closed/statscloscons/consultation-wimd2008/?lang=en

(2) P13, Part 2 Wales Rural Development Plan Wales Rural Development Plan 2007 -2013 http://new.wales.gov.uk/depc/1379130/1561285/RDP_Part_2_-_Analysis_Of_Cu1.pdf?lang=en