About Us

Members of the Board include: Leicestershire County Council, District Councils, Leicestershire and Rutland Association for Local Councils, Rural Community Council (Leicestershire and Rutland), Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, East Midlands Chamber, National Farmers Union, Country Land and Business Association, Federation of Small Businesses, National Forest Company, private sector businesses representing the Tourism Sector, and business champions.

The Partnership also draws upon specialist expertise through the other groups and partnerships that it works with.

Leicestershire Rural Partnership members are supported by a support team based at Leicestershire County Council.

The Leicestershire Rural Partnership Management Board meets quarterly and is currently chaired by Mrs Pam Posnett CC.

In 2030 rural Leicestershire will be made up of thriving, inclusive, digitally well connected and healthy communities and businesses, that are adapting to the challenges posed by climate change to become resilient and maximising the opportunities offered by a net zero carbon future.

1. Understand needs - Develop a single voice for the rural businesses and residents of Leicestershire through shared intelligence and evidence to highlight issues that require intervention.
2. Shape policy - Work collectively to influence national / local policy, and funding, including through joint responses to consultations where appropriate.
3. Support and facilitate - Support the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership to effectively respond to the needs of the rural economy and help facilitate robust business cases for funding to implement solutions on an ongoing basis.

Priority 1 - Climate Change and the Environment
Priority 2 - Rural inclusion and skills including supporting those furthest from the labour market move closer to work.
Priority 3 - Support small and micro businesses in rural areas to expand, diversify and grow
Priority 4 - Support sectors of significant importance to rural areas e.g. tourism, food and drink, professional and technical services and land-based businesses
Priority 5 - Improve physical and digital connectivity
Priority 6 - Shaping communities and places

The LRP's Principles and Priorities are fully outlined in the Leicestershire Rural Framework. This has recently been updated to cover the period 2022-2030. An Action plan has also been produced, using the priorities identified in the Rural Framework.

The Rural Framework is based on a rural evidence base produced in 2018 by our Business Intelligence Service, with figures updated where appropriate. We have used the official measure of rurality which is the 2011 Rural Urban Classification from ONS. The Business Intelligence Service has taken this classification to create the following Tableau dashboard. This uses data at an LSOA level and as such, fits neatly with ONS Mid-Year Population estimates, meaning we can report the urban/ rural population of the county with a relatively high degree of accuracy. In particular, you might find the map on the 'where are our communities located' tab helpful.

Below is a table summarising the urban and rural population and area of the county. From the data, it's clear that the county is predominantly rural by area, but urban by population.