The Plunkett Foundation’s Right to Try conference in London on 27 January provided a forum for debate on the sustainability of rural communities, by examining the barriers they are faced with and of the solutions needed to improve local services through community-ownership. A number of guest speakers attended including Jim Paice and Alun Michael MPs, along with social enterprise leaders and active rural community members.
Jim Paice, Shadow Minister for Food and Farming said: “The Right to Try is about unlocking the enterprise spirit in communities and we must tailor local communities to local problems.
He also said: “Right to Try is a new direction. Rural values of enterprise and independent innovation, is much more durable than any amount of public money endorsed by public spirit.”
Alun Michael MP, Vice President of the Local Government Association said: “We need to bridge the gap between rich and poor and to connect people living and working in rural communities, and, those who ‘want’ to live in rual areas but for reasons such as a lack of affordable housing can’t. Social enterprise therefore is part of the solution. The principal of ‘Right to Try’ moves us out of the comfort zone and asks what do we need to do to sustain our communities and to make them better places to live in?”
Key areas highlighted at the event were the need for better business advice on social enterprise, better powers for purchasing community assets and the need for changes to legislation to support co-operatives and social enterprises. An action plan identifying key elements of the conference will also be published in coming months by the Plunkett Foundation.
Peter Couchman, Chief Executive Officer of the Plunkett Foundation said: “Rural communities want to take ownership of the issues affecting them but are often prevented from doing so because of barriers around a lack of rights and a lack of support. We are exploring why and how these barriers must be removed, to enable more communities to take control of what matters most to them, through community-ownership.”
The conference was supported by the Big Lottery Fund, the Post Office and the Office of the Third Sector.
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Editors’ Notes
Ema Murphy on 01993 810730 or 07733 228 038 or email: ema.murphy@plunkett.co.uk.
‘The Right to Try’ concept goes beyond political rhetoric to explore a specific and practical proposition to return power to rural communities: the ‘Right to Try’. If a village shop is threatened with closure, the community should have the right to try to save it. If lack of affordable housing is a concern, rural communities should have the right to try to secure land and raise finance. If a bus operator plans to withdraw a service, the community should have the right to try to put in place an alternative service. The scales need to be tilted more firmly towards the community by removing the barriers to the development of community-owned enterprises.
Jim Paice MP was appointed Opposition Spokesman on Agriculture and has remained on the front bench ever since. Following the 2001 General Election, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Police. Then in September 2004 he was promoted to Shadow Secretary of State for Agriculture and Rural Affairs. He has been the spokesperson for Agriculture and Rural Affairs unbroken since that time. Jim is also Chair of Conservative Rural Action.
The Plunkett Foundation promotes and supports community-ownership, co-operatives and social enterprises in rural communities. It provides support, networks and knowledge to help rural communities to be aware of, understand and implement practical solutions to the challenges that they are facing. It works with a range of organisations who share the same values to develop support programmes for rural co-operative and social enterprises.
The Plunkett Foundation has recently supported the producers of The Archers, the longest running radio soap on BBC Radio 4, with its storyline to save the last remaining shop in Ambridge. The villagers are currently setting-up it’s first community-owned shop to keep the heart of the village alive and to save this much needed service.
The Plunkett Foundation works with the Office of the Third Sector (www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector.aspx) to promote the role that social enterprise can play in rural communities in England. As part of the Cabinet Office, the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) leads work across government to support the environment for a thriving third sector (voluntary and community groups, social enterprises, charities, cooperatives and mutuals), enabling the sector to campaign for change, deliver public services, promote social enterprise and strengthen communities. The OTS was created at the centre of government in May 2006 in recognition of the increasingly important role the third sector plays in both society and the economy.
The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) awarded the Plunkett Foundation’s Making Local Food Work initiative £10 million from the BIG’s Changing Spaces Programme. The Changing Spaces programme was launched in November 2005 to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments. The programme is funding a range of activities from local food schemes and farmers markets, to education projects teaching people about the environment.
The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
Full details of the work of the Big Lottery Fund, its programmes and awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
The Post Office
With around 12,000 branches nationwide, the Post Office has the largest retail network in the UK, with more branches than all of the high street banks combined. Around 99 per cent of the UK population lives within three miles of a Post Office branch and more than 23 million customers visit every week. The Post Office offers over 170 products and services to its customers. In addition to traditional mails and postage, the Post Office offers travel and financial services, from travel money to car insurance, banking facilities, bill payments, telephone and broadband, gift cards, lottery products and licence applications. Post Office Ltd is a separate limited company within the Royal Mail Group.
For more information about the Post Office, call 08457 22 33 44 or visit