Theme 5:Rural Issues | Centre for Rural Economy

Farming & Fishing

Rural areas across the UK are experiencing significant social, economic, and environmental change, shaped by shifting populations, inequalities in access to services, and evolving policy priorities. This chapter explores how rural communities are adapting to these pressures through migration, community action, innovation, and place-based development approaches. Together, the research highlights both the opportunities and challenges facing rural regions, from strengthening community resilience and addressing health and poverty inequalities to improving infrastructure, services, and long-term sustainability.

Community Groups and Rural Migration in Scotland

Currently, most people still live in cities, but more are choosing to move to the countryside. In the UK, some villages and small towns have seen a modest population increase in recent years. Existing research shows that newcomers can cause issues such as higher housing costs and gentrification, but they can also bring useful skills and resources. However, we still know little about how newcomers can best support rural communities.

Based on fieldwork in rural Scotland from September 2024 to January 2025, this study found that newcomers help keep villages going and are essential in various community groups. The Community Council gives residents a voice at higher levels of government and helps secure funding for development. Other groups, such as community hall committees, focus on wellbeing, mutual support, and local traditions. These groups are essential for village life and help make rural in-migration more positive for everyone.

Mr Jian Chen, Dr Menelaos Gkartzios, and Professor Guy Garrod
J.Chen115@newcastle.ac.uk | Menelaos.Gkartzios@newcastle.ac.uk | Guy.Garrod@newcastle.ac.uk

Keywords: Counter-urbanisation, Rural Scotland, Community groups, Rural sustainability

Rural Health Inequalities

Health inequalities experienced by people living in rural areas of the UK are often overlooked. Our programme of research examines health and wellbeing across rural parts of the UK, in relation to rural cancer inequalities, rural experiences of health and wellbeing, and health care provision and access.

People in rural areas are less likely to survive a number of cancers, are more likely to have late-stage disease at diagnosis, and often experience poorer treatment provision. Rural patients are also less likely to finish their cancer treatment and have less access to cutting-edge treatments and clinical trials. Key barriers to accessing health care include financial challenges (seasonal workloads or costly health care access), cultural barriers (stoic attitudes), changing rural populations (increased retirees and fewer younger families), and continuity and accessibility of health care (staff recruitment and retention challenges in primary care practices, and distance from specialist and hospital services). Overall, this contributes to health inequalities experienced by rural communities.

Dr Christina Dobson and Dr Jennifer Deane
Christina.Dobson@newcastle.ac.uk | Jennifer.Deane@newcastle.ac.uk

Keywords: Rural inequalities; Rural health; Cancer; Health care provision

Advancing the Rural Water Agenda

Across the UK, thousands of people depend on private water and wastewater systems for the provision of basic water and sanitation services. In the case of rural and island Scotland, approximately 200,000 people rely on private drinking water supplies. Yet these systems repeatedly suffer with issues relating to both the quality and quantity of supply, with challenges expected to further increase under the context of escalating climate stresses and changing land use patterns.

These systems underpin everyday life for thousands of individuals, businesses, and communities, yet the current governance framework is failing many of them. Opportunities for change exist, but solutions will require not only technical interventions or institutional reform, but new approaches to collaborative management and sustained support for local provision of critical services. Without this, the long-term sustainability of rural communities will remain at risk.

Dr Elizabeth Lawson
Elizabeth.Lawson@newcastle.ac.uk

Keywords: Water, Wastewater, Rural and island communities

Catalysing Rural Business Innovation

We are undertaking research to improve innovation support for rural economies. Rural businesses are resilient and resourceful and make up around 25% of businesses in England. Substantial national and international evidence suggests a disconnect between rural businesses and communities and the research and innovation ecosystem.

We are working with Innovate UK to review existing evidence concerning how entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems differ in rural areas. We are discussing with businesses and innovation support stakeholders how innovation is best enabled and harnessed in rural areas, how rural enterprise can be better integrated into the innovation ecosystem, and identifying implications for future innovation support. The project is funded by ESRC and Innovate UK via the Innovation & Research Caucus.

Professor Jeremy Phillipson, Professor Matthew Gorton, Dr Natalie Partridge, and Dr Thao Nguyen
Jeremy.Phillipson@newcastle.ac.uk | Matthew.Gorton@newcastle.ac.uk | Natalie.Partridge@newcastle.ac.uk | Thao.Nguyen2@newcastle.ac.uk

Keywords: Innovation, Rural enterprise, Policy and innovation support

Social Sustainability of UK鈥檚 Livestock Supply Chains

Social sustainability has become increasingly important for the UK’s livestock systems, with issues around labour shortages, farmer wellbeing challenges, public trust concerns around food safety, and widening inequalities along supply chains. Although livestock contributes significantly to livelihoods, nutrition, and rural economies, the social aspects of sustainability remain poorly defined and inconsistently measured. This creates a gap between what policy frameworks expect and what other stakeholders, such as producers, can practically deliver. Without clear assessment of social outcomes, risks such as worker exploitation, farmer stress, weak community resilience, and misaligned incentives can persist, affecting both productivity and sector stability.

For the UK in particular, gaps between domestic schemes and broader global concerns risk limiting the sector’s ability to respond effectively to emerging social expectations. Our research therefore focuses on a more inclusive, multi-stakeholder understanding of social sustainability, supported by evidence, to help inform policies that strengthen both social responsibility and long-term resilience in food systems.

Ms Vishakha Pandey, Dr Beth Clark, and Dr Carmen Hubbard
V.Pandey3@newcastle.ac.uk | Beth.Clark@newcastle.ac.uk | Carmen.Hubbard@newcastle.ac.uk

Keywords: Social sustainability, Livestock supply chains, Stakeholder perspectives, Food systems

Rural Futures Network

The Rural Futures Network brings together academics, policymakers, and practitioners from the four devolved regions of the UK to explore the future of rural policy. Its focus is on rethinking rural policy in response to changing demands on rural areas following Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally funded by the UK Research Councils, the Network proved so valuable that the devolved governments chose to support its continuation.

The Network addresses shared policy challenges across the devolved administrations and provides a forum for exchanging ideas, experiences, and best practice. Meetings take place four times a year, with topics proposed by the participating governments. Discussions to date have explored the future of rural development programmes, the effectiveness of rural proofing, and whether legislating would make it stronger. Future work will also examine the quality and availability of robust rural data across the UK. Key outputs include research briefings to inform meetings and summaries highlighting the main insights and recommendations from each meeting.

Professor Sally Shortall
Sally.Shortall@newcastle.ac.uk

Keywords: Network, Rural policy, Devolved regions, Future rural development

Rural Poverty in Britain

Poverty is often perceived as an urban problem, yet many people in rural Britain also experience hardship. Our research explores how and why people in rural areas experience and negotiate poverty and social exclusion, and how this might be addressed by policy. Our findings highlight the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on rural households (including fuel poverty), the shortcomings of the social welfare system in supporting rural citizens, and a lack of affordable rural housing.

The neglect of poverty and social exclusion in rural Britain stems from a lack of understanding of these circumstances by central government and from the exercise of power to favour other interests. Rural poverty could be readily addressed given political will, and our book “Rural Poverty Today: Experiences of Social Exclusion in Rural Britain” (Policy Press 2023) offers practical solutions to these policy challenges.

Professor Mark Shucksmith OBE
Mark.Shucksmith@newcastle.ac.uk

Keywords: Rural poverty, Social exclusion, Cost of living, Fuel poverty

Place-based Rural Development and Spatial Justice

Ministers have said that no one should be disadvantaged by where they live. Can a place-based rural development approach contribute to spatial justice? Place-based approaches, such as LEADER and ‘Pride in Place’, often involve working with residents and local institutions towards the future prosperity of rural communities and to enhance rural economies’ contribution to national growth and wellbeing.

Our research has examined the effectiveness of place-based rural development in promoting social innovation and spatial justice in England and Scotland. One study examined LEADER and spatial justice in north-east England. Another contributed to the Rural Policy Review for the Scottish Government, while another examined the potential to reimagine rural policy through mission-led governance. Key themes include flexibility to adapt to the diversity of rural places, the degree of active participation and local capability, the social construction of place, and the importance of governance and power.