RDC(3) P&D2
Rural Development Sub-Committee
Inquiry into Poverty and Deprivation in Rural Wales
Response from Angelsey Community Health Council
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?
Transport & access issues, housing, lack of information, isolation. Isolation will increasingly become a problem as health care moves into the home.
Lack of facilities; leisure, recreational & non compulsory educational activities, and access to such, for young people.
Integrated transport infrastructure, access to befriending and advocacy initiatives, appropriate housing initiatives, effective information networks
2. Are anti-poverty/deprivation activities best dealt with by the Welsh Assembly Government or by the Local Authorities? Why?
The consensus amongst those I have spoken to is that WAG are best placed - however, note at present there is little faith among local population that the LA can implement policies effectively (see local press)
3. i) What anti-poverty/deprivation initiatives (Welsh Assembly Government or Local Authority) are you aware of?
HSC&WB strategy, Insulation & central heating initiatives, Surestart, Genesis project, Communities First, CAB initiatives on debt, Mental Health Action Plan. There have been befriending schemes but not sure if they are still running.
3 ii) Do these anti-poverty/deprivation policies adequately address the needs of rural areas?
Not always. Problems with successful projects only running on short term funding and funding not being renewed. Short term initiatives are sometimes undertaken at the expense of long term ones.
Heating and insulation grants are not necessarily effective, (the policy was derived from urban housing needs). For example cavity wall insulation is of no use in stone built houses nor is Rockwool insulation any good to those with boarded loft spaces. The grants are not transferrable to accommodate individual housing insulation needs.
Central heating grants - good initiative but we are yet to see the fallout in terms of increased debt and subsequent mental health issues. Some systems installed but never used because of prohibitive cost. Fear spreading amongst those who have been using systems as the bills come in (especially where not accompanied by insulation improvement).
Recently told by LA/SS that the waiting list for heating assessment is 6-12 months.
4. What specific measures would you like to see implemented by the Welsh Assembly Government to deal with poverty/deprivation issues in rural Wales?
Flexibility in grant schemes so that individual needs can be met.
We would like to see the effects of rurality taken fully into account when allocating health and social service funding.
5. What examples of good practice are you aware of in Wales/other parts of the UK/ overseas?
Aware of evidence that addressing health before economics results in faster economic growth. (insert web address)
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?
In this area there is a large variation of income. It is thought that some wards on Anglesey/Ynys Mon did not reach the eligibility criteria for Objective 1 funding because a small number of high earners drove the average above the threshold.
Those with children and unable to find work suffer themselves but also the children suffer too and start off disadvantaged in life.
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.
Effects of downturn in farming; seasonal work and working out of area result in poorer communities. Lack of availability of affordable housing (as one local councillor said, recently in the local press regarding an 'affordable housing project’, people need to understand that they have to get a job to be able to afford the houses). Rents have risen along with house prices beyond the affordability of seasonal workers or economically inactive people. This reduces choice and ability to control immediate environment - which over time has ill effects on mental & physical health.
Appropriateness of service design - where services are available and accessible - is vital to achieving improvements for individuals.
The nature of rurality is that seasonal work is common. Those on variable incomes, and/or with more than one source of income have more difficulty claiming benefits such as Council tax benefit and housing benefit because of complicated and intrusive processes. It can become so complicated that people don’t bother to claim. The process for claiming benefits that are managed by the local council need to be simplified.
8. How do the problems of the 4 population groups differ across rural Wales (for example between areas in West Wales and East Wales)?
Those living within easier reach of the larger conurbations MAY have easier access to services and greater choice.
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?
Isolation is a major factor for disabled people, older people, and economically inactive people leading to loss of confidence, loss of independence, even greater vulnerability to debt and mental health difficulties.
Economically active people often work away from home. This takes parents and carers of relatives away from their homes during the week.
Low income or economically inactive single childless men and women between ages of 25 and 49 can have problems affording reasonable housing. If they do not have problems which place them in a vulnerable group already they are unlikely to present as a service user until at crisis point because initiatives are targeted to vulnerable groups. This then loads the crisis management services perhaps unnecessarily.
Mode-average wages are relatively low and although some expenditures are cheaper than in other parts many are the same cost or greater e.g. petrol and diesel fuel.
Given the changing demographics we will need to import workers to care for the older population.
There are problems in towns and villages with young people gathering outside shops at night sometimes in large numbers. They are rarely over 17 years old. This is because at 17 they have access to transport and a wider range of leisure activities. It should be noted that congregating on the streets used to be a common habit in these same villages but with social cohesion changing one does not see this any longer, as one still does in rural Ireland or France.
10. What are the most effective ways of tackling poverty/deprivation for individuals from these groups living in rural parts of Wales?
Community development needs to become more mainstream as training for managers of services. Many HSC&WB policies require an understanding of community development in order to implement effectively.
Less feasibility studies and more actual projects. More use of local consultancies rather than ones from many miles away.
Access to financial support to an individual's full entitlement must be facilitated. Much information on services suggest that benefit assessment can be done as part of other assessments (eg heating or carer’s needs assessments) but service users are referred elsewhere eg DWP.
Development of IT links and use of technology to support people who are confined to their homes or isolated should be speeded up.
11. How can these problems be addressed by the Welsh Assembly Government?
More funding to go to the voluntary sector who have a track record of providing services centred around the individual client's need.
More flexibility on funding to account for variation in needs from one case to another.
More supervision and evaluation of the effectiveness of local service delivery through an open, inclusive system.
Facilitation of policy implementation.
