AFTER BREXIT – RESEARCH LAUNCHED TO HEAR FROM RURAL PEOPLE

Scottish Rural Action has announced funding from Scottish Government which will give Scottish rural communities the opportunity to raise their concerns on Brexit as it affects them. 

Martin McManus from Scottish Rural Action said “We will be the voice for rural communities in Scotland in the run up to and after Brexit. We recognise that big business, agriculture and the enterprise sector are more able to get their concerns heard, but we know people in rural Scotland have equally important concerns. We need to hear and gather information on these concerns and help work towards solutions.  

“Some sectors have already had assurances of continuity of funding, not so rural communities. We already know that funding for community groups and voluntary organisations in rural Scotland is a big concern post Brexit. We are keen to discuss this with people who live and work rurally over the coming months to establish what impacts a change to funding would have. We are also keen to discuss the importance of a Scottish rural community development policy or commitment from Scottish Government moving forward.

“Over the coming months we plan to get out into twenty remote communities engaging directly with them to identify issues and work towards providing solutions. An e-questionnaire will compliment this activity for those we are not able to meet with. The findings from this work will be presented to the Scottish Rural Parliament in November and the recommendations from the findings approved by the Rural Parliament will be presented to the UK and Scottish Governments and we will seek commitments that these concerns will be addressed.”

The announcement comes as the Scottish Government Cabinet meets on the Isle of Arran, Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations Michael Russell said “With so much uncertainty around the Brexit process it’s important that our rural communities have the opportunity to have their voices heard about the issues that matter to them.

“This funding for Scottish Rural Action to reach out to communities will feed into the Scottish Government’s work to protect the people of Scotland and will help inform my discussions with the UK Government”

For more information, visit www.sra.scot