Scottish Government

• The study and best practice case studies showed that shared themes relating to best practice in rural service delivery can be identified, including:
• The early establishment of formal partnerships between the various local interest groups (government, the local community and local business) provides the best mix of combining long-term stability with ongoing innovation and local entrepreneurial activity. All case study projects had an explicit general commitment to reducing local socio-economic exclusion.
• All best practice case studies demonstrated an early commitment to the use of community survey techniques, local consultation, and an open involvement in the planning process for the design and implementation of service delivery. A sense of local ownership, and local management of the service was also critical.
• Most examples of good practice made strong connections between the need to support local (regional) economic and social development and the demands for local training and education. The most successful projects secured ongoing support from government (start-up costs, teleworkers, networked distribution of information etc.) while at the same time identifying local ownership and management as fundamental.
• A recurrent theme for good practice in service delivery was the need for a physical centre for service delivery within the rural community, around which the service provision can be supported.
• The study concludes that Scotland is ahead of many comparable countries in the innovative development of rural services, however, there is potential for Scotland to improve the dissemination of information on innovative Scottish service provision.

Background

The delivery of services to remote and rural areas of Scotland has utilised low and high technology solutions to address the difficulties of low population density, difficult topography, and economies of scale. Low-tech solutions include local and regional partnerships to share accommodation, equipment, and staff. High tech solutions include the delivery of further and higher education to remote sites, experiments with telemedicine techniques, and the application of Internet transaction facilities.

Scotland has had an early engagement with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to provide services in rural areas, and although there has been a division in perspective between voluntary or community provision of services, the (often free) delivery of public services, and the range of services offered by entrepreneurial operations, in practice the divisions have become increasingly blurred.

A number of rural regions have sought to achieve economies of scale, while at the same time promoting synergy, by fostering multi-purpose service centres. Eco-tourism and cultural tourism are among the sectors which are paritcularly benefiting from ICT.

Aim and Methods

The research methods comprised of an internet search for examples of service delivery in rural areas. To supplement the basic data found through this search, e-mail, telephone and fax were used to gather more substantial evidence of good practice and originality. Relevant overseas academics were also contacted.

In conducting the review the research team aimed to:

• Establish criteria for the identification of good practice
• Identify the geographical extent, locality, and scope of service provision to remote and rural areas, using relevant international examples.
• Evaluate the impacts of different cases study examples in order to identify aspects of good practice.

The priority areas for investigation were:

• Advice and Counselling
• Mobile Services
• One-stop-shops
• Partnerships

For the purposes of the review good practice was taken to include initiatives which:

• embrace a partnership approach
• integrate a number of different services under the same roof, or through joint operating procedures
• demonstrate innovative solutions for commonly recognised problems
• can be transferred to other localities and cultures

The research identified examples of good practice in North America, Australia, EU Member States, and Norway and Iceland. Five case studies highlighting rural service provision were examined: the Australian Rural Transaction Centres; Hants County Enterprise Centre; Legal Aid Queensland; Local Community Net, Finland and Multi-Service Rural Shops, Europe.

The potential transferability of these case study examples to the Scottish rural context was assessed, and recurrent themes from the case studies that are likely to be important in the provision of services in remote and rural areas in Scotland were also identified.

The Case Studies and Transferability to a Scottish Context

Australian Rural Transaction Centres

A Rural Transaction Centre (RTC) provides rural communities with access to a range of government information and services, private sector services and products, and office space for community uses. RTCs are intended to assist small communities to establish centres to improve access to basic services that would otherwise not be available. Each RTC responds to the needs of specific communities.

This model may operate well in Scotland providing a single rural centre for mixing the information and support roles of the State, the private sector and the NGOs.

Hants County Enterprise Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada

The Hants Regional Development Authority (RDA) is one of thirteen RDAs funded by municipalities, provincial and federal government.

The Hants County Enterprise Centre was created as part of the RDA programme and provides a base for a number of agencies providing employment assistance, business counselling, computer training and workshops for personal and career development. The main theme of the centre is about working together and building on the strengths of the local community.

There are positive suggestions of transferability to the Scottish context in the basic infrastructure, which is a combination of local Teleservice Centres and Local Learning centres, both already established in various Scottish locations.

The Enterprise Centre also has parallels with recent Scottish initiatives to decentralise core administrative functions to work bases outwith the main office. In Hants County there has been a noticeable economic and social impact gained by locating staff and a range of support services in local offices within a Provincial infrastructure.

Legal Aid Queensland Initiative

The main purpose of the Legal Aid Queensland initiative is to improve access for people living in rural Queensland to legal information and legal advice. The programme comprises of three initiatives - the Women's Justice Network, The Western Queensland Justice Network and the Rural and Regional Strategy. These initiatives are aimed at providing access to justice to rural communities, and in particular aboriginal people and women living in these communities.

Common features with other case studies are the partnership approach, with the initiatives working with local communities in the creation and development of operational plans. A comparison with Scotland would include the strong involvement of the local Citizens Advice Bureaux, Voluntary Action Agencies, and local training providers in the delivery of a joint socio-economic development strategy. Adoption of the Legal Aid Queensland model could improve access to justice in rural Scotland, and would build well upon existing local level access points at for example, libraries and offices of voluntary service organisations.

Local Community Net, Finland

The Local Community Net project was a pilot project which aimed to provide a service to the local area which would encourage the establishment of a community network based on computer conferencing, email and web-based communications. As an information society project the initiative had particular social objectives to prevent social exclusion, support social innovation, and to improve services and living conditions in the pilot area.

This initiative had a firm focus in knowledge-sharing, employment creation, and vocational training. Crucial to the success of this initiative was the commitment of local authorities to make information available through the network, and for local business to become involved in advertising and retail supply. An initiative such as this is possible in a number of localities in Scotland that have been improving ICT structure and Internet access in recent years.

Multi-Service Rural Shops, Europe

The primary purpose of a multi-service shop is to provide a range of quality goods and services for the population of the locality. Additional objectives are to enhance the quality of life for the inhabitants, to discourage rural depopulation, to contribute to the improvement of employment and to encourage economic diversification. Multi-service shops provide a combination of services and facilities.

Multi-service shops are deceptively simple in that they provide a combination of rural services, however the support framework and promotion of the initiative is an important element. Many local shops in Scotland have already adopted a wide range of retail products and a multi-facility role in their community, and more could develop in this way if supported by the local authority and/or the local enterprise companies.

Implications

This study suggests that Scotland is ahead of many comparable countries in the innovative development of rural services. That is not to say that there is nothing to learn, but many initiatives in Scotland can be favourably compared with innovative projects in other countries.

One particular area in which Scotland can improve however, is in the dissemination of information on innovative service provision. Though documentation on paper and on the web appears better in Scotland than many comparable countries, Scottish examples of good practice are greatly under-represented in the documentation in proportion to the level of initiatives on the ground. Considerable opportunities exist for electronic community networking of information and services, which may inspire further development of innovative provision of services in rural and remote areas of Scotland.

The combination of local community involvement and the better use of technology have already transformed the range and quality of services provided within many rural areas in Scotland. However, there may be opportunities to learn from good practice in the international arena and develop more innovative approaches to service provision in rural and remote areas of Scotland in future.

About this Study

The study was carried out by Frank W. Rennie, Wolfgang Greller, and Mary Mackay of The Institute of Rural and Island Studies and the Scottish Centre for Information Research, Lews Castle College in 2001 and 2002.