Research & Policy Service

Understanding the issues facing rural communities is important, not only for rural residents, but also for those seeking to develop projects alongside them or provide services to them.

We work with both communities and service providers to gather and interpret intelligence in order to better understand the needs of rural people in Sussex, and seek to share this with local authorities, third sector partners, service providers and central government.

Research Projects

Our staff have a wide range of expertise and experience in undertaking consultancy with projects encompassing:

  • Gathering statistical and qualitative evidence;
  • Mapping networks, businesses, providers or assets;
  • Researching specific themes or issues;
  • Evaluating projects and programmes;
  • Undertaking surveys or stakeholder engagement;
  • Developing policies and protocols
  • Rural Proofing policies and engaging on policy development

Previous clients have included: East Sussex County Council; West Sussex County Council; NHS organisations, the South Downs National Park Authority as well as numerous Local Authorities and Town & Parish Councils.

Community Profiles

Action in rural Sussex is part of the ACRE network which together have commissioned the Rural Evidence project.

This has generated a range of resources that bring together mainstream rural-specific evidence and statistics at a range of scales – County, District, Parish, Clinical Commissioning Group and Local Enterprise Partnership. To find out more about the various reports that are available please click here or alternatively contact us for more details.

One of the most useful resources is the Community Profile (Parish Profile) which combines numerous key statistics from the 2011 Census and other sources at Parish scale to provide a comprehensive overview of a location and its community.

To find out more about how to order a Profile for your parish click here for more information.

Contacts Us

For more information on any of the above issues or to discuss potential projects, please contact us on 01273 473422

Useful Websites

NOMIS
(Labour market statistics provided by the Office for National Statistics at Ward, Local Authority & Local Enterprise partnership scale)

East Sussex in Figures
(Census data and other datasets, reports, surveys and maps related to East Sussex at a variety of scales)

MAGIC
(Government-run online mapping tool providing information on landscape usage and designations)

Land Registry House Price Index
(Tool run by the Land Registry to monitor house prices over time, both by type and by geography – currently it operates to county authority scale)

“Supporting rural communities in Sussex to be vibrant and diverse places in which to live and work.”