Rural Policy - Introduction
Welcome to the Scottish Executive web pages for the
Rural Policy Team.
Our current focus is on four key areas of importance to
rural areas:
- A strong and diverse rural economy, harnessing
traditional strengths and with an appetite for
change;
- A rural Scotland where everyone can enjoy a decent
quality of life, where the young are not forced to
leave their communities to get on and where the
vulnerable are no longer excluded;
- A rural Scotland where people enjoy public services
that are accessible, of the highest possible quality
and with the greatest possible choice;
- A rural Scotland whose natural and cultural
heritage flourishes in all its diversity.
Rather than setting rural Scotland aside as a special
case, we encourage our Executive colleagues to take the
needs of rural areas into account. The work of these policy
areas, including transport, culture, education and health,
consider:
- the impact of all policies on rural areas;
- how rural issues should be reflected in policy
development and;
- how information on rural policy should be shared with
external organisations.
A number of
policy
mechanisms exist to coordinate the Executive's approach
to rural development. From 1997 to 2004 the Team also
administered the
Scottish Rural Partnership Fund. This programme has now closed, and
Ministers are currently considering options for a
replacement fund.