OECD Rural Policy Reviews.

124 Pages·2010·1.023 MB·English

by  OECD

OECD Rural Policy Reviews
Strategies to Improve Rural Service Delivery OECD Rural Policy Reviews
The delivery of services to rural regions is a key concern for both OECD and non-OECD countries.
The service sector, in aggregate, now dominates total employment and value-added in OECD countries, Strategies to Improve
accounting for more than 70% of these two measures, and continues to increase in importance. While
services may play a slightly smaller role in rural regions than in urban areas, they are the dominant
O Rural Service Delivery
component of the rural economy. It is clear that a vibrant service sector is both vital for a prosperous local E
economy and crucial for meeting the needs of rural citizens. C
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This book provides an overview of the underlying problems in delivering services to rural regions. R
It contains a conceptual structure for thinking about rural service delivery problems and a strategy for u
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thinking about the role of government in service delivery, as well as a discussion of the role that innovation a
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The New Rural Paradigm: Policies and Governance (2006) s

OECD Rural Policy Reviews: Germany (2007) S
OECD Rural Policy Reviews: Mexico (2007) tr
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OECD Rural Policy Reviews: Finland (2008) t
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OECD Rural Policy Reviews: The Netherlands (2008) g
OECD Rural Policy Reviews: China (2009) ie
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OECD Rural Policy Reviews: Italy (2009) t
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OECD Rural Policy Reviews: Spain (2009)
OECD Rural Policy Reviews: Québec, Canada (forthcoming) Im
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The full text of this book is available on line via these links: e
www.sourceoecd.org/governance/9789264083950 liv
www.sourceoecd.org/regionaldevelopment/9789264083950 e
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Those with access to all OECD books on line should use this link: y
www.sourceoecd.org/9789264083950
SourceOECD is the OECD’s online library of books, periodicals and statistical databases. For more
information about this award-winning service and free trials ask your librarian, or write to us at
[email protected].
ISbn 978-92-64-08395-0 -:HSTCQE=U]X^ZU:
04 2010 05 1 P
www.oecd.org/publishing

OECD RURAL POLICY REVIEWS
Strategies to Improve
Rural Service Delivery
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to
address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at
the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments
and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an
ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy
experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate
domestic and international policies.
The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the CzechRepublic,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of
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and research on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the conventions,
guidelines and standards agreed by its members.
This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions
expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the
Organisation or of the governments of its member countries.
ISBN 978-92-64-08395-0 (print)
ISBN 978-92-64-08396-7 (PDF)
DOI 10.1787/9789264083967-en
Series: OECD Rural Policy Reviews
ISSN 1990-9276 (print)
ISSN 1990-9284 (online)
Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda.
© OECD 2010
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FOREWORD –
Foreword
The OECD brings countries together to help government meet the
challenges of a globalised economy. Ensuring that rural residents and firms
have access to an appropriate set of public and private services is a
significant challenge for OECD governments. As the service sector plays a
larger role in national, regional and local economies any gaps in service
availability and quality can limit development potential. Moreover national
governments are making stronger commitments to provide public services as
part of their effort to improve social cohesion and enhance citizens’ quality
of life.
The challenges of service delivery are especially acute in rural areas
because of lower density populations, larger distances that have to be
travelled by service users and service providers, and the small numbers of
people in any location that preclude economies of scale. This makes
delivering any particular service more expensive in a rural location than in
urban centres. As governments face increasingly limited budgets going
forward, they will be looking for innovative ways to balance the
development potential of rural areas, which increasingly rests upon the
availability of services, against competing claims on national funds and
concerns about lower returns on public outlays.
This report blends the knowledge drawn from various OECD Rural
Development Conferences with the knowledge developed in the OECD
Rural Policy Reviews. The reviews examine the prospects and policies for
rural regions. In each rural review the nation examined has faced significant
issues in ensuring that services are available in its rural territory. Similarly,
the Forums have explored some of the challenges and opportunities
associated with public service delivery in rural areas and have provided
insights on solutions. The solutions have included new approaches by
various levels of government, private enterprise and the voluntary sector. In
this report a synthesis of the various issues faced by these national
governments is developed and guidelines for forming a service delivery
strategy are set out. In addition, the report provides an in-depth assessment
of how innovation and one strategy, co-design and co-delivery of public
services, can be used to better match the services provided with the specific
needs of rural residents.
OECD RURAL POLICY REVIEWS: STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RURAL SERVICE DELIVERY © OECD 2010
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– ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgements
This report was elaborated by the Directorate of Public Governance and
Territorial Development (GOV) of the OECD. It was prepared under the
management of Mario Pezzini and co-ordinated by Betty-Ann Bryce.
Chapters 1 and 2 were drafted by David Freshwater, and Ilse Oehler former
Administrator, with contributions from Betty-Ann Bryce. Chapter 3 was
drafted by Betty-Ann Bryce with contributions from David Freshwater and
Marco Daglio. Jeanette Duboys, Erin Byrne, and Kate Lancaster prepared
the document for publication.
The Designing for Rural Communities: The Role of Co-design and Co-
delivery workshop was held on 11-12 June 2009 at the Church House
Conference Centre, Dean's Yard, in London, United Kingdom. The
workshop was organised by the Directorate of Public Governance and
Territorial Development in collaboration with the Commission for Rural
Communities (CRC) of the United Kingdom. The workshop organisation
was directed by Christian Vergez and David Freshwater of the OECD
Secretariat. It was co-ordinated by Betty-Ann Bryce and Marco Daglio. The
Secretariat would like to thank the CRC and in particular Dr Stuart Burgess,
Chairman and Rural Advocate; Graham Russell, Executive Director; Audrey
Roy, Programme Manager; Debby Weller, Interim Project Manager; Ruth
Gibson, Senior Policy Adviser; Anita Gamble, Senior Programme Adviser;
Matt Griffith, Senior Adviser; and, Maureen Brown, Administrator.
Thanks are also due to the speakers and facilitators: Richard Wakeford,
Chair, Director General Rural Futures Scottish Government, UK, Elke
Löffler, Chief Executive, Governance International; Jennifer Jarratt,
Principal, Leading Futurists, LLC; Alberto Cottica Consultant, Ministry of
Economic Development, Policy Evaluation Unit; and, Jeff Dixon, Project
Co-ordinator, The Monieson Centre, Queen’s School of Business, Queen’s
University, Ontario, Canada.
OECD RURAL POLICY REVIEWS: STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RURAL SERVICE DELIVERY © OECD 2010
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS –
Special thanks to: Stephen Dodson, Executive Member for Rural Affairs
and Director, DC10plus: Dr. Ray Ellis, Council Portfolio Holder for Rural
Affairs, Hampshire County Council; John Tickle, Head Countryside and
Rural Affairs Hampshire County Council; Des Hobson, Rural Policy
Manager, Hampshire County Council; Kate Kravis, Lead Member for
Housing, West Somerset Council; Ian Timms, Group Manager, Housing and
Community, Western Somerset Council; Christian Trevelyan, Partnership
Manager, Somerset West Private Sector Housing Partnership; Carmel
Cahill, Ealing Community Network Co-ordinator, Ealing Community
Network; and, Knox Daniel, Resource Centre Manager, Ealing Community
Resource Centre.
OECD RURAL POLICY REVIEWS: STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RURAL SERVICE DELIVERY © OECD 2010

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TABLE OF CONTENTS –
Table of contents
Overview ............................................................................................................ 11
Chapter 1. The Service Delivery Challenge in Rural Areas .......................... 13
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 14
1.1. Types of services ................................................................................... 16
1.2. The rural service delivery problem ........................................................ 24
1.3. The role of services in OECD economies .............................................. 35
1.4. Broad policy strategies to overcome the rural problem ......................... 38
Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 47
Bibliography .................................................................................................... 49
Chapter 2. Governance and Public Service Delivery in Rural Areas ........... 55
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 56
2.1. What services should be provided? ....................................................... 58
2.2 Who should provide the service? ........................................................... 67
2.3. What mechanism should be employed for service delivery? ................ 71
2.4. How are the service delivery mechanisms to be funded? ...................... 74
2.5. Who is eligible to receive services? ...................................................... 77
2.6. Who makes the decision regarding the preceding issues? ..................... 77
Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 81
Bibliography .................................................................................................... 82
Chapter 3. Designing Services for Rural Communities: the Role of
Innovation and Co-design and Co-delivery in Improving
Outcomes ................................................................................................. 87
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 88
3.1. Designing services for rural communities, the workshop focus and
structure ................................................................................................. 89
3.2. A unique approach ................................................................................. 96
3.3. Opening public service provision to citizen influence ......................... 102
Conclusion .................................................................................................... 115
Bibliography .................................................................................................. 119
OECD RURAL POLICY REVIEWS: STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RURAL SERVICE DELIVERY © OECD 2010
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– TABLE OF CONTENTS
Tables
Table 1.1. Economy > sectoral contributions to gross value
added ..................................................................................... 15
Table 1.2. Classification of rural services in supply and demand
considerations ........................................................................ 22
Table 1.3. Typology of services by degree of externality and type
of provider ............................................................................. 23
Figures
Figure 1.1. Accessibility in European countries by road to cities
with at least 50 000 inhabitants .............................................. 25
Figure 1.2. Rural population growth in the last decade............................ 29
Figure 1.3. Dispersion and ageing of the rural population ....................... 30
Boxes
Box 1.1. Implementation of market mechanisms for the
provision of services .............................................................. 17
Box 1.2. Enterprise development in rural Ireland and rural
Spain ...................................................................................... 19
Box 1.3. The limitations of transport infrastructure policies in
increasing access to rural regions .......................................... 26
Box 1.4. New Rural Paradigm ............................................................. 32
Box 1.5. Health care sector as employer and purchaser ....................... 36
Box 1.6. Multiservice centres .............................................................. 39
Box 1.7. Service delivery boundaries: the case of education ............... 41
Box 1.8. Bringing services to users ...................................................... 43
Box 1.9. ICTs for service delivery ....................................................... 45
Box 2.1. Improving public investment in services in rural
regions: factors for consideration .......................................... 56
Box 2.2. The equity versus efficiency dichotomy ................................ 59
Box 2.3. Essential versus competitiveness public services .................. 61
Box 2.4. Different services for rural businesses .................................. 63
Box 2.5. Link the “right services” to the “right region” and to
the overarching regional and rural development
strategy .................................................................................. 66
Box 2.6. Who should deliver services? ................................................ 68
Box 2.7. Forms of co-operation between local authorities in
OECD countries .................................................................... 69
Box 2.8. Monitoring performance and providing incentives ............... 71
Box 2.9. Decentralisation and transfers ............................................... 76
OECD RURAL POLICY REVIEWS: STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE RURAL SERVICE DELIVERY © OECD 2010