5. An evaluation of the rural development programme process

Book Reviews There can be little doubt that the forecasting of agricultural change with global warming is extremely difficult. Current GCM calculations now show reasonable agreement on global temperatures, but are unsatisfactory for regional changes and quite hopeless in forecasting precipitation changes at the regional level. Referring to predictions of decreasing soil moisture for sub-continental regions by three GCMs, Parry notes that ‘these are not statistically significant and that the evidence available at present is extremely weak’. True, yet the rest of his book has to assume some predicted future state in discussing agricultural changes! Parry is the author of the agriculture section of the IPCC paper on agriculture and forestry. It is alarming to find that this book has been written to consider ‘in more detail than could be covered in the IPCC report, the reasoning behind these conclusions, their implications for food security and the most appropriate courses of action’. It is at once obvious that this is a topic where more research is still needed, though how far that can go without better regional forecasts from GCMs remains uncertain. KEITH CLAYTON School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia, U. I(.

1. A Study of Rural Tourism, PA Cambridge Economic Consultants Ltd, 64 pp., 1987, ISBN 1 869964 03 9 2. Telecommunications in Rural England, Economic and Transport Planning Group in association with Ove Arup & Partners, 98 pp., 1989, ISBN 1 869964 05 5 3. Employment and Training in Rural Areas, Centre for Agricultural Strategy, University of Reading, 131 pp., 1989, ISBN 1 869964 06 3 4. An

Evaluation of the Craft Homes Experiment, ECOTEC Research and Consulting Ltd. 63 pp., 1989,

ISBN 1 869964 09 8 5. An Evaluation of the Rural Development Programme Process, Public Sector Management Research Centre, Aston Business School, 87 pp., 1990, ISBN 1 869964 12 8 6. The Provision of Basic Utilities in Rural Areas, ARUP Economic Consultants, 63 pp., 1990, ISBN I 869964 11 X 7. English Village Services in the Eighties, ACRE, 81 pp., 1990, ISBN 1 869964 10 1 8. The Impact of ‘Community Post office’ Status on Rural Sub-post Offices, Peter M. Townroe, 51 pp., 1990, ISBN 1 869964 13 6

The Rural Development Commission (RDC) was created in 1988 when the Development Commission, originally established in 1909, merged with its agency the Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas (COSIRA). One of the first acts of the new RDC was to confirm the commissioning of a series of research reports into a number of aspects of rural life as part of its wider brief to promote social and economic development in rural England. The first eight of these reports have now been published in the attractively produced RDC Rural Research Series covering an im-

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pressive range of topics crucial to the future of rural communities: tourism, employment, housing and provision of services and basic utilities. The reports have been produced by a number of different agencies and individuals, including the Economic and Transport Planning Group, the Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Aston Business School and ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England). The Series provides a valuable insight into the multifaceted problems associated with rural community development. In particular, it illustrates the progress made with various initiatives designed to improve rural life, for example training opportunities for the rural workforce, the RDC’s Craft Homes Experiment and its Rural Development Programmes, and other changes affecting the countryside, notably the government’s privatisation programme and the new Community Post Office Contract. Some solid and well-crafted research is represented in these investigations, typically using questionnaire surveys and case studies of particular rural areas. The same format is followed for each of the reports, with some useful background information presented, analysis of the problem(s) in question, findings and recommendations/conclusions. Thus there is the opportunity presented for considering future policy options that might be adopted by the RDC and other agencies. This indicates that the series is very much a practical component of the RDC’s work and must be viewed in this light. In terms of the RDC’s own work, No. 5 in the series is most informative as it provides an evaluation of the organisation’s Rural Development Programme. This has been concentrated upon 27 priority areas, termed Rural Development Areas (RDAs), into which the RDC has channelled its relatively limited funds (a budget of c.f27 million in 1988-1989). The RDAs cover one-third of England and contain 2.3 million people. The work of the RDC in these areas has been aimed at alleviating a range of problems they are experiencing (and hence their designation). This assistance has taken several forms. but with special emphasis upon co-operation with other agencies in order to promote development, for example housing associations, English Estates, National Park authorities. The review performed by the Public Sector Management Research Centre, Aston Business School, makes 40 separate recommendations that address key aspects of the Programme’s operation. For those who have questioned the broad extent of the RDAs, arguing that assistance needs to be more concentrated, there is some support in the suggestion that smaller target areas be established within RDAs where a short 2-3 year programme of action could operate. This would be fitted into a 5-6 year rolling programme of target area designations. Higher percentage grants are also recommended for these target areas. Other suggestions for improvement refer to the administration of the programme: more delegation to local committees; strengthening liaison; enhancing application, approval and monitoring processes; and increasing local authority involvement

.

The operation of the RDA Programme can be set against the background of continuing decline in rural services in many parts of the countryside. This decline is well portrayed in No. 7 in the series, prepared by ACRE, in which there is consideration of a wide range of services: shops, post offices, primary schools, GP surgeries,

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Book Reviews

pharmacies, public houses, banks and building societies, village halls and libraries. Their investigation gives some causes for optimism, in that it reveals that the dramatic decline has largely been stemmed. In some cases this reflects in-migration to the countryside creating conditions for the retention and re-establishment of local services. However, there is tremendous variation across services and different parts of the country. In seeking to deal with this variation the RCC has to plan a complex but flexible future strategy carefully gauging changing consumer behaviour, new expectations and demands by the rural population and a changing commercial environment. At the same time, they are not dealing with a static set of legislation: rural communities will be affected by changes in the school curriculum and the management of schools, by new proposals affecting the health service and the delivery of community care, by the sale of Girobank and possible privatisation of the Post Office. In many ways the detailed information contained in this series of reports represents the RCC’s best chance of making the right decisions about its future operations. The reports contain valuable material on a number of significant rural trends of the past decade. For the academic the contents will yieId detail to ‘freshen’ any sagging set of lecture notes and provide some sustenance to a research agenda, but for the RCC the findings must be inwardly digested and quickly translated into policy if critical rural problems are not to be magnified by the next decade of rapid change.

The authors acknowledge the shifts in the balance of powers that have taken place - indeed, who could deny them -but do not accept that those who do direct efforts towards influencing MPs are, necessarily, naive, throwing money and effort in the wrong direction. They argue, rather, that while approaches to the government are most likely to be the avenue of first resort, groups can, if they consider their strategies carefully, still achieve considerable influence through parliament. The book has a lot to recommend it. David Judge’s chapter seeks to establish the theoretical framework for the later arguments, while other contributors consider the different targets of the group activity: the individual MPs; party committees; all-party groups; select committees; the House of Lords. A chapter on that burgeoning industry of political consultants is interesting and informative. For those who are considering, or even those already involved in, trying to influence those who rule us, the book offers useful advice. For those who have come to despair of the state of parliament, it may offer a little hope. MALCOLM

WALLES

University of Leeds, U.K.

as Manager (2nd Edn), T. Giles and M. Stansfield, 208 pp., 1990, CAB International, Wallingford, ISBN O-85198-673-0, f9.9.5 The Farmer

GUY M. ROBINSON University of Edinburgh,

U.K.

Parliament and Pressure Politics, Michael Rush (ed.), 320

pp., 1990, Clarendon

Press, Oxford, f32.50

It is some time, as Michael Rush reminds us, since a study has been made of the relationships between pressure groups and parliament. The received ‘wisdom’ about the role of parliament in the legislative process has long been that it has little role to play, other than as a legitimiser of decisions taken elsewhere, by ministers and/or civil servants. The MPs, in this analysis, are but lobby-fodder for their leaders. However, if this were a true picture of the situation we would not expect to find many organisations or groups seeking to persuade parliamentarians to give support to this or that cause. Their attention would be directed elsewhere, to government ministers, to civil servants, perhaps to the media generally. Indeed, this study, a large part of which is based on a lengthy survey sent to more than 250 organisations, does reveal that these last three categories are ranked much more highly than parliament itself as important focal points for their activities. Nevertheless, of the approximately three-quarters respondents did acknowledge that they maintained regular or frequent contact with one or more Members of Parliament. Armed with statistics, the contributors to this volume go on to demonstrate that there is still life left in the mother of parliaments and that Members are still something of a force to be reckoned with. The picture is not the black and white one of those who would argue that the days of parliament have passed. It is instead very grey.

Shops in airport departure lounges are well stocked with books on management which the business executive can consume during the inevitable flight delays. They all tend to be similar - intellectually undemanding, user-friendly, written in a chatty style which would win no literary prizes, low on quantitative content, yet containing sufficient common sense to justify the time spent reading them. The Farmer as Manager, a revised edition of a work first published by Allen and Unwin in 1980, falls firmly into this type. Though airport lounges are not as yet frequented by the typical farmer-manager and therefore not the place where one is likely to encounter the book by Giles and Stansfield, this could change if the recommendations it contains for managers to cultivate interests outside the farm and to take holidays are adopted en masse. The text is presented in 14 chapters arranged into four parts. The first part (Introducing Management) describes the aims of the book and the nature of management. The second (Managers’ Functions) is concerned with setting objectives, planning, decision-making and control. The third (What has to be Managed) covers production, buying and selling, finance and staff. The last (The Manager) is about managing the manager, including the acquisition of information and setting priorities. Most chapters start with a listing of the topics to be covered, end with questions and exercises and are followed by guides to further reading (in which the writings of Drucker figure prominently). The text is expansively written and little concentration is needed to assimilate the points it makes. This encourages the reader to flip from page to page, but repetition ensures that little is in danger of slipping past unnoticed. The style of English is Cavalry-Twill-and-Sports-Jacket. There are rather too many irrelevant short sentences terminated by exclamation marks! The general approach is to discuss principles of manage-