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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
1.1 The Scottish Executive is committed to supporting rural life, rural communities and the rural economy. Improving the delivery of services to rural communities, thereby enabling all rural residents to enjoy a high quality of life, is central to the Scottish Executive's vision for rural Scotland (Rural Poverty and Inclusion Working Group, 2001; Scottish National Rural Partnership, 2000; Scottish Executive 2000).
1.2 A core objective of the Scottish Executive is to tackle poverty and disadvantage. This has been translated into clear objectives and targets within the framework of "Closing the Opportunity Gap" ( CtOG) strategy. The broad aims of the strategy are:
- to prevent individuals or families from falling into poverty
- to provide routes out of poverty for individuals and families
- to sustain individuals or families in a lifestyle free from poverty
1.3 There is a specific objective within CtOG for rural Scotland:
"To improve access to high quality services for the most disadvantaged groups and individuals in rural communities - in order to improve their quality of life and enhance their access to opportunity".
1.4 To this end the Scottish Executive has set the following target:
"By 2008, improve service delivery in rural areas so that agreed improvements to accessibility and quality are achieved for key services in remote and disadvantaged communities".
1.5 With this target in mind, the Scottish Executive has designated 22 Rural Services Priority Areas ( RSPAs), having identified them from the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation as experiencing particular disadvantage in service provision, access to service and subsequent opportunities. It wishes to agree local targets with Community Planning Partners for key services in each of these areas and required research to inform the dialogue. The list of RSPAs is attached as Annex 1A and a map of their location is attached as Annex 1B.
1.6 In June 2002 the Scottish Executive published its community regeneration statement, "Better Communities in Scotland: Closing the Gap" (Scottish Executive, 2002). The statement set out how the Executive - together with its partners in local government, other parts of the public sector, the private sector and voluntary and community groups - intends to turn around disadvantaged communities and create a better life for those who live in them. The Executive will work with local delivery agents in liaison with community planning partnerships to ensure effective "joined up" solutions.
1.7 The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 provides a statutory basis for Community Planning in Scotland. It offers a legislative framework whereby all local authorities must put arrangements in place for community planning in their area and identify other important organisations - e.g. health boards, police boards and Scottish Enterprise - which must be involved in the process. Under the Act, Community Planning Partnerships must involve the community itself as the main partner in the process of delivering the services that are needed to make a difference at a local level. Community plans are now in place throughout Scotland. Thus Community Planning Partnerships are the key element in achieving the objectives of CtOG.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1.8 In order to help inform the development of the CtOG targets in rural areas, the Scottish Executive's Environment and Rural Affairs Department commissioned this research to investigate rural communities' views on service provision in the Rural Services Priority Areas. Reflecting the spirit of the high-level CtOG target that each local target should be set, as far as possible, to reflect the needs, experiences, and preferences of those people who use, wish or need to use local services, this research sought to explore the views of rural communities themselves on service priority, accessibility and quality.
1.9 The objectives of the research were to:
- conduct a literature review of local services research and publications across the Rural Services Priority Areas, by working with relevant Community Planning Partnerships ( CPPs) and other local service delivery agents and agencies. This was to identify what information already exists on service priorities, quality, access and communication between communities and policy makers. It was also to inform the coverage and direction of complementary primary research.
- to conduct primary research to:
- identify and explore the views and priorities of people living in rural areas regarding key services for them and their community.
- examine views on different methods of delivery of key services, and identify innovative ideas on this that service users might have.
- explore the issue of accessibility, and how this might be improved, from the perspective of both service users and those who feel they do not have access to the services they wish to use.
- explore the issue of service quality, and in particular the factors that determine satisfaction or otherwise, based on the qualitative experience of services.
- explore any social (across population groups) and geographical variations in views on service priorities, accessibility and quality.
- explore any channels of communication open to rural community members to contribute towards shaping service provision and delivery, as well as interest in participating in such channels.
- make recommendations on how to maintain ongoing dialogue between service users and providers in future.
- explore and make recommendations on how to use the findings from this qualitative case study research in future survey work to measure levels of satisfaction and perceptions of service quality in rural Scotland more widely (geographically) and generally (across a range of services).
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