Speaking on "tackling rural poverty" at today’s Welsh Conservative North Wales Area Conference, North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has highlighted “the fragility of some rural economies, poor access to employment opportunities and public services, low pay, a lack of affordable housing and social isolation” and said that after almost 24 years of continuous Labour or Labour-led Welsh Governments, it is high time that these issues were addressed.
He emphasised that in order to tackle rural poverty, “we must first recognise the evidence that rural poverty can be masked by the perceived affluence of rural areas and by a culture of self-reliance in rural communities”.
He said:
“The low skills base of some rural economies is known to act as a barrier to economic growth and limited employment opportunities can result in the out-migration of skilled workers. Lack of training opportunities can also contribute to keeping incomes low.
“The prevalence of low paid and fragile employment contributes to the risk of in-work poverty.
“Lack of access to services makes it difficult for some individuals to secure employment. Public transport in many rural areas is infrequent, inadequate and more expensive than elsewhere. This means that it difficult for those without private transport to travel for work.
“A lack of affordable and available childcare in rural areas and limited access to the internet are also seen as barriers to employment opportunities.
“There is a ‘rural premium’ on some key goods and services because of a lack of competitive markets for food, fuel, energy and transport. This contributes to rural poverty.
“Rural households are known to be susceptible to fuel poverty. Fixed housing costs often absorb a large proportion of low household incomes and many rural areas have a lack of affordable housing.
“In 2020, 19% of domestic properties in Wales were not connected to the gas grid.
“These are the key factors behind rural poverty in Wales that need to be tackled after almost 24 years of continuous Labour or Labour-led Welsh Governments.”
Mr Isherwood referred to the £5.4 Billion European Structural Funding the Welsh Government received for areas with prosperity levels below three quarters of the EU average, which he said was “intended to be spent in such a way that it would not be needed again because the economy had become stronger and the prosperity gap had been closed”.
He said:
“Instead of using this to close the gap and therefore self-disqualify, as in Ireland and Poland, the Welsh Government used it as recurrent funding to subsidise, rather than tackle, the causes of poverty in our rural Counties.
“It is in this context that the UK Conservative Government has instead introduced the Shared Prosperity Fund, planned and delivered with Local Authorities and local communities to Level Up opportunity and prosperity, and overcome the deep-seated geographical inequalities that have held us back too long.”
Mr Isherwood also referred to the legitimate self-catering businesses in rural areas who are now suffering because the Welsh Government have used them as a scapegoat for Labour’s affordable housing supply crisis in Wales.
He said Welsh Conservatives would launch a housing recovery plan with the whole sector, embed a ‘fabric and worst-first’ approach to retrofitting, targeting the poorest households and the least efficient homes, work with the Health Sector to identify and support people at risk of living in a cold home, and reform the Local Government funding formula to ensure fair funding across Wales, particularly in rural Councils.
He said they would also Level-up and join-up public transport in North Wales, improve North Wales rail links, take action to eliminate mobile phone and broadband black spots, support our Farmers and Agricultural industries, and above all, develop Community-based approaches to tackling rural poverty in Wales.
He added:
“After 24 years of top-down, poverty trapping, command and control Labour Welsh Government, a Welsh Conservative approach to enable, empower and set free our rural communities is urgently needed.”
ENDS