Rural Affairs - East Midlands Rural Affairs Forum

The East Midlands Rural Affairs Forum (EMRAF) is the champion for the rural East Midlands within the region. EMRAF aims to be the driver of the rural agenda in the East Midlands and the regional hub for information on rural issues. EMRAF is positioned in such a way that it links with and influences the work of the Government Office for the East Midlands, East Midlands Development Agency and the East Midlands Regional Assembly, but it is not "under" one of these bodies.

EMRAF has the following roles and responsibilities:

• provide a forum for sharing information on issues & initiatives affecting rural areas;
• identify issues of concern to rural people & businesses;
• give views on new regional proposals affecting the region's rural areas;
• act as a conduit for regional views on national proposals affecting rural areas through its links with the Rural Affairs Minister
• review progress on implementing the Rural White Paper and key rural policies;
• suggest further policy developments needed to implement the Rural White Paper objectives;
• review service delivery to rural areas in the region to inform the above.

Who is a member of the East Midlands Rural Affairs Forum?

EMRAF is chaired by Pam Smith, OBE. Many agencies, organisations or networks in the East Midlands have a representative on EMRAF.

How does the East Midlands Rural Affairs Forum operate?

EMRAF meets four time a year. A Management Committee agrees its agendas and papers following suggestions by members of EMRAF. EMRAF meetings are open to the media but they are not open public meetings. The Government Office for the East Midlands acts as the EMRAF Secretariat and provides adminstrative support. The East Midlands Rural Affairs Co-ordinator provides an independent resource to help with the work of EMRAF. Apart from the Management Committee EMRAF also runs a number of sub-groups to take forward specalised tasks. If you have an interest in rural policy and you want to input and respond to the work EMRAF does, you can sign-up as a member of the Rural Learning Network. You don't have to be an EMRAF member to do this. This will allow you

• to actively feed your ideas and comments into the work of EMRAF
• to find out about policy related events in the region
• to be linked in with all the latest policy developments that impact rural areas

East Midlands Rural Affairs Co-Ordinator

The basic operation of the Forum is undertaken by GOEM. This is supplemented by the work of the East Midlands Rural Affairs Co-Ordinator, which enables EMRAF to address a wider range of issues and more effectively champion rural interests in the East Midlands. Derk van der Wardt has been appointed as Co-ordinator. His aim is to enable the Forum to take up its role as the regional hub for rural information and develop the Forum as the driver of the rural agenda. the Rural Affairs Co-ordinator has a remit to:

• co-ordinate the drafting of and consultation on a regional rural action plan
• promote the rural agenda at regional and national level
• promote the development of regional initiatives
• establish a basis for "rural proofing" regional and sub-regional strategies
• work with EMRAF
• provide support for East Midlands ACRE Network (20% of workload)

For further information on the work of the Rural Affairs Co-ordinator, email dvanderwardt@nottsrcc.org.uk or phone 01623 727600.

EMRAF Management Committee

The EMRAF Management Committee has been set up to:

• prioritise the work of EMRAF
• manage the delivery of agreed outcomes
• agree EMRAF administrative matters
• steer the work of the East Midlands Rural Affairs Co-ordinator

The Management Committee meets at regular intervals. Meetings are not open to the media or the public but its minutes are available on request. Any decisions taken by the Committee are ratified at full EMRAF meetings.

The Management Committee is chaired by Dr Bob Middleton. Its members represent different agencies and areas of interest from EMRAF.

The Chair of EMRAF is invited to sit on the Committee.

Further inforamtion can be found on the EMRAF website at www.ruralaffairs.org.uk

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