Rural watchdog spared axe for now

Although the Commission for Rural Communities’ budget will be radically cut, its work will no longer cease at the end of March as was initially expected as the Government battles to get legislation axing a string of quangos through Parliament.

Members of the House of Lords have been fighting to save the agency – which has campaigned for more affordable homes in the countryside and rural communities to be linked up to fast broadband connections – amid concern the Government’s desire to cull quangos meant Ministers risked “driving the bulldozer through” useful organisations.

Although Government officials remain hopeful they will get legislation in place by the autumn to finally allow the CRC and a string of other quangos to be abolished, Peers have threatened to bring forward an amendment to save it if Ministers fail to provide sufficient assurances over how it will listen to concerns in the countryside.

The CRC, which has a budget of £5.8m a year, is one of a series of quangos the Government wants to axe to save money. Ministers say that by strengthening the rural unit within the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) they will be still be able to address rural issues but critics fear it will not be independent.

Bosses at the CRC were expecting to close their doors at the end of March, but have now been told the organisation will continue – possibly until next summer – although it will be cut back to chairman Stuart Burgess, a chief executive, secretary, policy officer and a part-time support officer.

About 15 CRC staff have already moved over to Defra’s rural unit, while most other employees will be made redundant. The Cheltenham headquarters are up for sale.

“The CRC is expected to exist until spring or early summer 2012 when, subject to legislative approval following passage of the Public Bodies Bill, it will be abolished,” according to a commission document.

“During this period the streamlined CRC, whilst retaining its independence, will work alongside and complement the Rural Communities Policy Unit (RCPU) in Defra to ensure that decision makers continue to receive expert advice and constructive insights about the impact of their policies on people who live and work in rural areas.”

Measures to abolish it are contained in the Public Bodies Bill, which is being debated in the House of Lords and is running about three weeks behind schedule.

Peers have mounted a staunch defence of the CRC and threatened to introduce an amendment to remove it from the list of agencies facing the axe.

Liberal Democrat Peer Lord Greaves, who was born in Bradford, said in a recent debate; “The idea that a Minister at a middle or junior level within Defra will have the presence and ability to promote causes on behalf of rural areas, particularly disadvantaged rural areas, that the CRC and its chairman have at the moment is arguable at the very least and possibly wishful thinking.”

He has challenged the Government to prove “robust structures” will be put in its place or warned that an amendment to save the CRC could be reintroduced.

Environment Minister Lord Henley said: “The decision to abolish the commission does not reflect in any way a reduction in the Government’s rural commitment.”

A Defra spokesman insisted the Public Bodies Bill will become law later in the year, and there was never an expectation that it would have been in force by March.