MORE goes on in the countryside than just agriculture - and a new discussion paper says Government policies must take this into account.

Academics from Newcastle University's award winning Centre for Rural Economy (CRE) launched their paper at the Conservative Party Conference on Monday.

"Reimagining the rural: What's missing in UK rural policy?" argues that rural entrepreneurs and communities are missing out and being penalised because policy makers do not take them into account.

Guy Garrod, CRE director, said: Rural areas need integrated policy to address rural issues: they aren't just the remit of Defra, and they aren't just about farming. The rural economy is diverse and entrepreneurial, the Government is missing a trick in not capitalising on rural potential to help fuel economic recovery."

The paper stressed the significance of the rural economy. It said:

o the rural economy is worth £400bn (19 per cent) of the UK’s Gross Value Added

o it accounts for 20 per cent of the UK working population and 28 per cent of Britain’s firms

o 70 per cent of its workers are employed by small and micro-businesses, with only 15 per cent in agriculture.

Mr Garrod said: “Those running businesses in rural areas are innovative and want to grow as much as their urban counterparts. They face any number of challenges that could be eased by proper acknowledgement from government of how their circumstances differ from those in urban areas.”

The paper highlights several significant areas of policymaking which have disadvantaged rural communities by not taking account of their difference to urban areas.

These include more small rural schools closing due to a new funding formula which forces councils to apply a standardised formula across all schools; the "bedroom tax" for those with spare rooms hits poorer households in rural areas especially hard because of the lack of smaller accommodation; the proposal to end allowing affordable housing on sites of less than ten houses which ignores the fact that the majority of rural housing is provided on small, private developer-led sites.

Mr Garrod said: “Young people in rural areas are facing the closure of their local schools, then being priced out of the housing market – it’s time that rural communities across the UK got a better deal from Westminster.”