Rural business to receive helping hand

A NEW Government initiative to boost investment in the rural economy has been welcomed by countryside organisations. CLA president Mark Tufnell describes it as ‘the first steps towards delivering a robust and ambitious plan to create economic growth in the countryside’. Earlier this month,

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Defra launched the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF), which promises up to £110 million of fresh investment. The aim is to improve the productivity of England’s rural areas, which fell from about 89% of the England average in 2001 to about 81% in 2019.

This money is in addition to the £2.6 billion allocated to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to support country-wide levelling up. The new fund will be part of the UKSPF and is intended as a rural top-up for eligible local authorities in England (funding has already been provided to devolved governments as part of the replacement to the Common Agricultural Policy). REPF is available to any organisa- tion not receiving funding from another Defra scheme, from local authorities to private-sector companies, voluntary groups and charities.