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IMPLEMENTING SERVICES IN RURAL SCOTLAND: A PROGRESS REPORT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Scottish National Rural Partnership's (SNRP) Report Services in Rural Scotland, (published January 2001) was commissioned by Ministers in order to identify innovative approaches to providing services in rural areas and offer recommendations on how local communities and service providers might work together to improve access to services in rural areas. The report was welcomed by Ministers, who were keen that its messages and recommendations were taken forward. They therefore asked SNRP to monitor and report back on progress being made in implementing the report. SNRP took forward this task by forming a small sub-group, which met for the first time in November 2001, and completed its work in September 2002.

The Sub-Group gathered evidence from service providers, to see how the report had impacted on the way in which they were approaching service delivery in rural and remote areas. This included both meetings with representatives from key service providers, and written evidence from a range of other service providers. While the Services in Rural Scotland report had focussed on the provision of non-statutory services, many of its findings and recommendations could be applied equally to statutory services. The Sub-Group therefore gathered evidence from some statutory service providers. Similarly, while the report had focussed on the impact of service provision on individuals, many of its messages are equally applicable to businesses, and thus business representatives were also included in the evidence-gathering process. The Sub-Group found the evidence-gathering process to be extremely useful, and hoped that, in itself, it may have helped to raise the profile of the report within the organisations concerned.

In taking forward its work, the Sub-Group identified a number of key issues, which may warrant further exploration or consideration. These can be summarised as follows:

• Many of the findings and recommendations of the original report were aspirational in nature, making it more difficult to monitor progress, than would have been the case if these had been more robust and targeted. It also resulted in some service providers appearing to have paid little more than lip service to the report.
• It is difficult to assess the extent to which the Services Report is directly contributing to better provision of services in remote and rural areas. However, we welcome the general higher priority being attached to service delivery. It is notable that a considerable number of service delivery projects/ initiatives are being taken forward beyond the scope of the Report's specific recommendations.
• There continues to be a need for a more robust approach to assessing and measuring rural service needs and how delivery is meeting these needs. An enhanced evidential base & research, as well as mechanisms for assessing satisfaction among rural dwellers with the level and quality of provision of services, is essential.
• Community Planning has huge potential to transform how services are planned and provided, but service providers will need to consult with local communities through existing mechanisms in the meantime (SIPs, LRPs, CVSs). Community Budgeting, bringing all partners' budgets to the table, is another potentially crucial development.
• Changes in the organisational structures of bodies involved in local partnership working (e.g. Communities Scotland) need to be sensitive to the impact these changes will have on service delivery in rural areas.
• The need for longer term support and funding for community capacity building and for the voluntary sector. Variations in existing support in different geographical areas (in particular between the HIE and non-HIE rural areas) should be addressed.
• There may be value in having local Compacts to improve core support for voluntary organisations, delivering important services in rural areas.
• There is a need for a greater interface with Banks and other larger businesses in rural communities, to encourage participation in local partnerships.
• Attention also needs to be paid to the involvement of the local business community, and to ensuring that it has the ability to play its role in influencing and addressing local service requirements.
• The inherent problem of sustainability of many rural services. Communities need to be facilitated to assess their service needs. Consideration should be given to supporting pilot community appraisal studies.
• Partnership working is relatively common among public and voluntary sector organisations, particularly between those organisations with co-terminous boundaries. However, there appear to be greater potential barriers to partnership working between the public/voluntary sector and the private sector.We also found very few examples of private sector sponsorship of local events or projects.
• We found plentiful examples of innovative working, but relatively poor dissemination of best practice, particularly between organisations and geographic areas.
• We found widespread support for community buildings, and the role they can play in enhancing service provision. However, issues remain regarding how these are funded and their long-term sustainability.
• We were concerned at the lack of progress in addressing the provision and sustainability of childcare in rural areas.
• Given that Community Planning is still at an early stage, and that other developments to improve service provision have still to bear fruit, we believe there is a need for a further monitoring exercise to be carried out in, say 2 years' time.

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