Regional Rural Affairs Forums
The eight Regional Rural Affairs Forums were created as a result of the Rural White Paper (2000), and are a primary means by which grass-roots customers of Government services can give direct feedback to Government (including periodically direct to Ministers in person) to ensure that those services meet the needs of rural people and that they actually deliver practical benefits on the ground.
The Forums are independent entities, serviced through the Government Offices for the Regions. Alongside the Commission for Rural Communities, with whom they enjoy an increasingly productive relationship, the Forums are an important means of delivering the Government's commitment, given in the Rural White Paper, that "Ministers should be fully informed of the state of the countryside and should have regular and direct contact with the main rural groups so that they know what is going on and what countryside people think”.
The Rural Strategy re-states the Government’s commitment to listening to the voice of rural people, and sets out the ways it intends to achieve this including:
- Building on the Regional Rural Affairs Forums to ensure that they are fully able to represent rural people in their regions and reflect their views;
- Building a strong relationship between Ministers and the chairs of the Regional forums through regular meetings which also involve the Rural Advocate.
For more information on each Regional Rural Affairs Forum, please visit their websites at:
East Midlands Rural Affairs Forum
East of England Rural Forum
North East Rural Affairs Forum
North West Rural Affairs Forum
South East Rural Affairs Forum
South West Rural Affairs Forum
West Midlands Rural Affairs Forum
Yorkshire and Humber Rural Affairs Forum
Page last modified:
17 March, 2008
Page published: 9 January 2004