10 ways councils are making budgets go further
Discover 10 ways councils are stretching budgets further, from digital transformation and energy efficiency to community partnerships and data-driven decision-making.
Approval of largest solar farm scheme branded ‘appalling’
15/10/2025 A 3,000 acre solar farm project in Lincolnshire has received Government approval despite opposition from the county council. |
Rural Cornwall to benefit from zero-emission electric bus boost
09/10/2025 Six new zero-emission electric buses have been introduced to serve Route 70 on Cornwall’s bus network |
Rural Somerset to benefit from EV infrastructure boost
04/09/2025 Somerset Council has been granted almost £4m to support the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charge points. |
Councils warn of widening inequalities in NHS dental access
28/08/2025 Communities in deprived and rural areas are facing the biggest struggles to access NHS dental care, according to the Local Government Association (LGA). |
Funding reforms ‘burden’ taxpayers, CCN warns
19/08/2025 Residents of county and rural regions will face ‘maximum council tax rises’ under the Government’s fair funding reforms, the County Councils Network (CCN) has warned. |
Campaign groups condemn ‘absurdity’ of councils’ catering move
18/08/2025 The decision to adopt plant-based eating across multiple councils has been opposed by farming organisations. |
Councils need more funding and powers to save bus services, MPs say
13/08/2025 More funding and powers should be given to local authorities to better protect and improve declining local bus services, MPs have said. |
Majority of rural councils have no social housing targets
16/07/2025 Only one in five rural local authorities have planning targets for building new social homes despite a shortage of new houses in rural areas. |
Vital bus services plummet in rural areas
09/06/2025 Rural bus services have decreased by 18% since 2019 due to insufficient transport funding in county and rural areas, new research reveals. |
Rural areas deprived of affordable homes, says Princess Anne
02/05/2025 HRH The Princess Royal has highlighted the urgency of the rural housing crisis, following statistics that reveal waiting lists for affordable rural housing increased by 20% between 2020-2023. |
EXCLUSIVE: Sector bodies decline to join legal challenge
03/04/2025 County Councils Network and Rural Services Network will not financially support legal action over axing of the £100m rural services grant, The MJ understands. |
Council leader: Legally challenging grant axing worthwhile
03/03/2025 North Yorkshire Council's legal action against the Government over a £14m funding cut could cost more than £250,000. |
Councillor threatens legal action over ‘Rayner's rural robbery’
23/01/2025 The deputy leader of North Yorkshire Council has accused the Government of ‘rural robbery’ over a reduction in funding and raised the spectre of legal action. |
EV chargepoints ‘on track’ for 2030 goal but challenges remain
13/12/2024 The UK is on track to reach 300,000 public electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints by 2030, the national public spending watchdog has found. |
Early years gets £2bn boost
10/12/2024 The early years sector is set to receive a £2bn funding boost next year as the final phase of the mass expansion of free childcare is delivered. |
Council urges Government to drop farm tax plans
27/11/2024 Cornwall Council has agreed to call on the Government to reconsider its changes to inheritance tax rules. |
Rural transport schemes win £1.2m
06/11/2024 Eight small businesses from across the UK have won a share of £1.2m to improve transport in rural areas. |
Rural council areas at risk of becoming ‘pharmacy deserts’
03/09/2024 Nearly nine in 10 council areas in England have seen pharmacies close during the last two years, new research reveals. |
Suffolk announces electric car club trial
15/08/2024 A trial of electric community vehicles is set to launch in Suffolk next summer. |
NextGov: What rural councils want from the next government
26/06/2024 The chief executive of the Rural Services Network (RSN), Kerry Booth, sets out rural councils' key asks of the next government. |
The flaws in ‘Clarkson’s clause’
10/06/2024 Following Jeremy Clarkson-inspired legislative changes around planning permission in rural areas, Kerry Booth, Rural Services Network, shares her concerns. |
‘Clarkson's clause’ introduced to cut red tape for farmers
21/05/2024 New planning laws coming into effect today will enable farmers to convert disused agricultural buildings into homes and shops without planning permission. |
North Yorkshire aims to build 500 council homes
20/05/2024 North Yorkshire Council has published its first housing strategy, which includes an ambition to build 500 council homes over five years. |
Council criticised for punishing rural weeing
30/01/2024 Peeing in the countryside is an act of littering, a Hertfordshire borough council insists. |
Rural homelessness up 40%
04/01/2024 Levels of homelessness in rural areas have increased by 40% over the last five years, research by a countryside charity has revealed. |
Campaigners warn of ‘silent war’ on bus services
28/11/2023 Bus services have seen a dramatic decline over the past 15 years, with provision decreasing by more than 60% in 80 local authority areas, research reveals. |
Demand responsive buses won't fill gap, CCN says
25/10/2023 Three in four large rural councils in England are rolling out demand-responsive transport (DRT) bus services but councils have warned that they are not financially sustainable or a substitute for government bus service subsidies. |
County areas behind on EV charging
28/09/2023 The number of publicly available electric vehicle (EV) charge points in England’s county and rural areas lags ‘far behind’ major towns and cities, according to a report. |
Rural bus services at ‘historic low’
19/07/2023 One in four bus routes in county and rural areas have vanished over the last decade as passenger numbers dropped to a historic low, according to a new report. |
Rooftop solar panels should be fitted as standard, charity says
23/05/2023 The majority of the solar panels required to reach the Government’s net zero targets could be fitted on rooftops and car parks, campaigners say. |
Rural councils faced with ‘hidden homelessness’ crisis
17/03/2023 Rural areas are struggling with a homelessness crisis driven by soaring housing costs and a shortfall in local authority funding, a new report claims. |
County chiefs call for powers to solve rural workforce crisis
06/02/2023 Council leaders have called for powers to tackle labour squeeze as a new analysis reveals that hundreds of thousands of people have left the rural workforce. |
Multi-million-pound contract to speed up Cornwall broadband
20/01/2023 Residents in rural Cornwall are set to benefit from faster broadband after local supplier Wildanet was awarded a £36m contract to roll out new connections. |
Satellites trialled in effort to boost broadband
01/12/2022 Rural homes and businesses could see a boost to their broadband connections if a trial to use satellites to deliver high-speed connections is successful. |
Council chiefs warn of ‘dental deserts’
03/10/2022 Public health directors have warned the cost-of-living crisis and a lack of NHS dentists in rural areas will lead to more people requiring emergency treatment. |
Council welcomes £6.6m broadband deal
29/09/2022 Thousands of rural premises in Teesdale are set to gain access to faster broadband after a multi-million-pound contract was awarded under Project Gigabit. |
Rural businesses to receive £110m boost
05/09/2022 Businesses across rural England are set to benefit from a £110m cash injection to boost productivity and create job opportunities in the countryside. |
Decarbonisation efforts ‘penalise’ rural households, warns think tank
05/07/2022 The Government has been urged to give rural households who live off the gas grid more time to transition to low carbon heating. |
Scottish council to deliver school meals by drone
17/06/2022 Pupils in remote parts of Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland could soon have their school meals delivered by drone. |
Investment in countryside could add over £40bn to economy
27/04/2022 Policies focused on improving the economic and social potential of the countryside could add £43bn to the UK economy, report finds. |
Rural health services need ‘levelling up’, MPs say
01/02/2022 Rural local authorities spend a disproportionately higher share of their budget on providing social care than their urban counterparts, MPs warn. |
Short term holiday rentals ‘crippling’ rural communities, warns charity
13/01/2022 There has been a 1,000% increase in the number of homes listed for short term lets in the past six years, a charity has warned today. |
‘Shameful inequities’ driving the young out of the countryside
13/10/2021 Young people are abandoning rural communities due to a lack of public transport and affordable housing despite the Government’s much-vaunted ‘levelling up’ agenda, a countryside charity has warned. |
Council chiefs warn rural communities risk missing out on vital services
31/08/2021 Rural areas are at risk of missing out on vital services due to a surge in the number of barns being converted into homes, local authority leaders have warned. |
Over two million young people ‘overlooked’ in COVID recovery
26/08/2021 The over two million young people living in rural areas are being overlooked in the post-pandemic recovery, a new report has warned. |
Rural communities 'overlooked' in levelling-up funding, report finds
04/08/2021 The allocation of levelling up funding is 'overlooking' rural communities, a report has claimed today. |
Rural homelessness doubles in past two years, campaigners warn
28/10/2020 Homelessness in rural areas has more than doubled since 2018, new research from campaigners has warned. |
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Government announces £22m rural broadband investment
14/09/2020 Over £22m of funding is being invested into the Government’s broadband voucher scheme to boost broadband speeds in rural English shires and counties. |
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Rural councils join forces to tackle climate change
25/06/2020 A coalition of 21 rural councils, in partnership with UK100, have launched the Countryside Climate Network this week. |
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Councils ‘best placed’ to understand digital needs of local areas
18/09/2019 The Local Government Association says councils have a central role to play in making sure people in rural areas have access to the fastest broadband services. |
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Cyclists demand access to rural footpaths
20/08/2019 British cyclists are calling for a reform of England’s rights of way legislation to allow bikes onto country footpaths – a call resisted by walkers. |
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Rural councils call for end to 'systemic bias' in public finance
22/07/2019 The Government has been urged to end 'systemic bias' when allocating public funding by a new coalition of council chiefs and MPs. |
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Elderly people in rural communities have less social care provision, report warns
19/07/2019 The way adult social care is funded has led to deep inequalities in provision, the Salvation Army has warned. |
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Domestic abuse victims in rural areas ‘failed’ by system
17/07/2019 Victims of domestic abuse living in the countryside are ‘isolated, unsupported and unprotected’ a damning report has warned today. |
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Council chiefs call for devolution to rural communities after Brexit
04/07/2019 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to devolve more powers to rural areas in the event that Britain leaves the European Union. |
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Bus users outline plan to reverse rural decline
13/06/2019 A group representing bus users across the UK has published a 10-point plan to reverse the decline in rural services. |
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No such thing as a ‘rural transport problem’, report concludes
03/05/2019 It is ‘very easy’ to provide high quality public transport to rural communities, a study comparing approaches to transport in four countries has concluded. |
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Peers call for strategies to develop ‘under-performing’ rural areas
29/04/2019 Local authorities should develop their own strategies for realising the ‘potential in struggling and under-performing’ rural areas, committee says. |
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Rural housing crisis ‘forgotten’ by Whitehall
25/01/2019 It would take 130 years to build enough new homes for people on waiting lists in rural areas at the current rate of housebuilding, campaigners have warned. |
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Rural business ‘stifled’ by planning system, warn landowners
19/04/2018 Delays by local authority planning departments are viewed as a ‘barrier’ to economic growth and development in rural areas, survey reveals. |
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Potholes ‘cutting off’ rural communities, insurer warns
16/04/2018 The deteriorating rural road network is in danger of cutting off countryside communities, rural insurer warns. |
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Inquiry launched into rural social mobility
29/03/2018 A new inquiry on social mobility in rural areas has been launched in a bid to determine what opportunities are available to young people in counties. |
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Whitehall ‘failing’ rural communities, committee warns
22/03/2018 The Government has slashed department resources dedicated to promoting the needs of rural communities, select committee finds. |
