Suffolk County Council recognises the need to support communities
who are excluded from access to services due to geography,
disability, being long term unemployed, lack of access to
transport, and so on.
It is well documented that poor access to services can exacerbate
deprivation and social exclusion in rural areas, particularly among
the following groups including - unemployed, on low incomes, the
elderly and the disabled or infirm.
Working with partners Suffolk County Council is developing many
varied projects to tackle this exclusion and is striving to ensure
equal access to the services across the county. Some of these
projects are listed below:
Suffolk's support strategy for Post Offices
Suffolk County Council's concern about the uncertainty of the
future of the post office network prompted councillors to explore
ways in which the county council can help protect the service for
the people of Suffolk.
Although the county council has no direct responsibility for post
offices, it does have responsibility for initiatives that encourage
social and community cohesion. Post offices are at the forefront of
these and play an important social and economic role in the
communities they serve.
Earlier in the year, representatives from local businesses and the
voluntary sector were invited to join Suffolk County councillors at
a policy development panel meeting to consider the impact that post
office closures will have on communities across the
county. The panel was supported by officers within Strategic
Development.
The panel identified ways of supporting post offices that had the
potential to be sustainable to ensure a strong network across the
county. It also identified ways of helping communities who
will lose their post office as part of the current network change
programme being undertaken by Post Office Ltd. The findings of
the panel were presented to Cabinet this week and it was agreed
that the county council should continue to work with partners in
the public, private and voluntary sector and that resulting
strategy (see link) should be championed through the Local Area
Agreement process to ensure that the objectives are achieved.
Councillor Jeremy Pembroke, Leader of Suffolk County Council said,
"Post offices, especially those linked to a local shop, are part of
the fabric of local communities providing access to basic
essentials. In many cases the local post office provides an
important social, community and economic function and we need to
work together to protect them against the continuing trend of
closures, especially in deprived urban and isolated rural
areas".
He continued, "I was pleased to have the backing of the Cabinet to
take this important work forward, and with the support of the local
business community and the voluntary sector I am confident that we
will continue to work together with other stakeholders to examine
all the options and hopefully make a positive contribution to
protect the services that the post office provides for
everyone.”
Support Strategy Report (PDF, 358Kb)
Suffolk County Council are increasing their support for the rural
economy by allowing local directional signing for post office and
post office stores.
They can now apply to see if they are eligible for traffic signs to
direct motorists to these important local services. This is
part of Suffolk County Council's wider support for a strong post
office network in the county. For further information and to
apply for a sign please call CSD contact centre on 0845 606
6067.
Suffolk Rural Economy Scheme
The Suffolk Rural Economy Scheme is a successor to
the Rural Services Scheme, and started at the end of October 2007
and will run for 2 years. For further information on this project,
please visit the
Suffolk Rural Economy Scheme web page.
Rural Shops Alliance (RSA)
The RSA are the national voice of Village
shops. Their role includes providing relevant training
opportunities, lobbying statutory bodies, and providing advice and
information to retailers. They continuously require retailers
to sit on the steering groups. Any one interested in this
opportunity to help develop government policy or who wishes to gain
more information please visit
http://www.rural-shops-alliance.co.uk/index.htm.
Social Enterprise
Social Enterprises are businesses that trade in the
market place but invest their surpluses in to a social
aim. That could be creating employment opportunities for
people who would have otherwise been excluded from the labour
market or regenerating an area or keeping an important building
open. Some of the projects which Suffolk County Council operate or
contribute to include:
Realise
The aims of the REALISE project are to
assist people with disabilities and mental health problems to
access employment opportunities through the development of Social
Enterprise in Suffolk and to change government policy on
modernising “Supported Employment”. REALISE is a 'Development
Partnership' made up of a number of strategic partners to assist
this cultural shift. Suffolk County Council is the lead
partner on this project. For more information
please email
adrian.scarratt@socserv.suffolkcc.gov.uk
Suffolk Community Enterprise
The Suffolk Community Enterprise project aims to encourage
communities to establish community-owned and run businesses and
promotes awareness of the opportunities offered by the social
sector. The project provides free professional business advice and
support to clients in Suffolk through business advisors who are
accredited by SFEDI (Small Firms Enterprise Development
Initiative). Suffolk ACRE is the lead body and Suffolk County
Council is a management partner and one of the principal funders.
For further information, please visit the
Suffolk ACRE
web site.
Foundation East (formerly Suffolk Regeneration
Trust)
Foundation East is a not-for-profit business that operates across
Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. They lend money to new
businesses, existing businesses and social enterprises that can’t
get a loan from a bank or need additional funds to match bank
lending. Foundation East is also developing a Community Land
Trust to enable local people to control assets. This initiative is
designed to create affordable housing and workspaces, particularly
in rural communities. For further information, please visit
the Foundation
East web site.
Please visit the following website
www.sens-suffolk.co.uk for
further information on Social Enterprise.
Suffolk Rural Partnership
Please read the
Rural Action Plan 2008-10 (PDF, 493Kb) for more information on
the Suffolk Rural Partnership.