£200 million boost for rural England

A £200 million grant offer for rural businesses that will generate thousands of jobs and provide new support to expand and improve their premises has been announced.

Lord Gardiner confirmed when announcing the latest round of Rural Development Funding that for the first time under the current scheme specific funding will be available to support new rural broadband projects.

The scheme will also provide significant amounts of funding to on-farm businesses to invest in new infrastructure such as new buildings and machinery.

The current programme is expected to generate 6,750 new jobs. Already more than 1,400 projects have been agreed which are hoped to create over 2,300 jobs.

The grants will also fund landowners to improve farm productivity and invest in rural tourism opportunities.

The funding will include: £30 million to improve rural broadband; £45 million to help rural businesses grow and invest in new equipment; and £120 million for projects that improve farm productivity.

The first funding will become available for reservoirs and forestry equipment, and funding for broadband, rural business support, on-farm food processing arable and horticultural productivity and resource efficiency will be made available later in the year.

The funding is part of a planned investment of at least £3.5 billion into our rural economies by 2020 under RDPE.

Lord Gardiner, Rural Affairs Minister, said: “One in three businesses in this country are based in the countryside, and this government is committed to providing the support they need to create a strong and prosperous rural economy.

“This funding will make sure businesses in remote locations can get online, help farmers install cutting-edge technology, create new tourist hotspots and bring high quality jobs to rural communities across the country.”