Devon MPs call for action on deprivation

'This is a part of the country that is often forgotten'

Devon MPs have called on the government to do more for people in deprived rural areas struggling to get proper transport, good communications and dental appointments.

Three of the county’s Liberal Democrat MPs spoke during a debate on government support for rural communities.

South Devon MP Caroline Voaden, who led the debate, told colleagues: “It is vital that at the top, making decisions, there are people who understand rural communities.

“It would be great to have someone from the rural south west at the top table, speaking up for a part of the country that is so often forgotten when spending decisions are made.”

She highlighted that average incomes are lower and the average age higher in places like rural Devon. People have to travel further for vital services, she said, and she knew of people who face a £150 taxi fare to attend hospital appointments.

Pubs and banks are closing, she said, and children missing out on after-school clubs because there are no buses to take them home.

She questioned the government’s methods of working out which areas are deprived and which are not, and went on: “It is important to have people at the top table who really understand how these economies work, because so often those smaller communities are lost under the larger voice of the big cities.

North Devon Lib Dem MP Ian Roome said pockets of intense deprivation in the poorest rural and coastal communities could get lost in government statistics for wider areas. Different government departments use completely different measures, he said.

“We need a reliable picture of just how isolated some people in rural and coastal communities are and how much support they need,” he added.

And Rachel Gilmour, the Lib Dem MP for Tiverton and Minehead, described her constituency as a ‘dental desert’.

She said the proportion of adults seen by dentists there in the previous two years is well below the national average. The data for children are ‘even more troubling’.

And, she added: “Young people in rural areas such as Tiverton and Minehead are getting a woeful deal.

“The gaps in sixth-form provision, save for the few places at West Somerset college and Petroc college, are detrimental to the aspirations of students who wish to pursue further education.”