This series contains Rural Services Surveys datasets of surveys of services available to those living in rural England. The surveys of 1991, 1994 and 1997 were undertaken by the Rural Development Commission. The 2000 survey was conducted by the Countryside Agency which was formed following the merger of the Rural Development Commission and the Countryside Commission in 1999.
The following list summarises the topics covered in the data files for the parish survey component of the 1991-2000 datasets. In the 1991-1997 datasets this information is presented at parish level, whereas in 2000 it is presented in two forms (two tables per region): settlement level, and aggregated to parish level.
- Shops and other services: availability of post offices, garages and petrol stations (not 2000), shops, markets, banking facilities (not 2000), food and drink outlets, and mobile shops and mobile services. The 2000 survey also asked about the sale of locally produced food by shops and delivery services.
- Childcare, education and other care facilities (not 2000): numbers (and numbers of enrolled pupils) of child groups; numbers (and numbers of enrolled pupils) of schools and colleges, and the age groups which they served; numbers of adult education classes; and numbers of day-care groups for the elderly or disabled.
- Medical facilities: availability of hospitals, GP surgeries, clinics, dental surgeries, opticians, pharmacies and prescription services, and residential homes and nursing homes. In the 2000 RSS, this area was limited to questions on the availability of doctors' branch surgeries, and of facilities for obtaining prescriptions away from main surgeries or chemists.
- Places of worship: numbers of churches, chapels and other places of worship. The 2000 survey also asked for data on the total size of congregations, numbers of resident ministers, numbers of places of worship open during the day, availability of Sunday schools, and non-religious uses of places of worship.
- Information services: availability of libraries, newsletters, notice boards, Citizens Advice Bureaux (not 2000) and Job Centre facilities (not 2000). The 2000 survey also covered public Internet facilities, community legal services and counselling services.
- Recreational facilities: numbers of meeting places and recreation areas. The 2000 survey also asked about the frequency of sports events and community events within each settlement.
- Clubs and societies: availability of church groups, sports groups, women's groups, youth organisations, clubs for older people, etc.
- Transport: availability and frequency of rail services (not 2000), bus services and other transport services.
- Crime prevention and emergency services: e.g. numbers of police stations, fire stations and ambulance stations, special constables and Neighbourhood Watch schemes. In 2000, this area was limited to questions on Community Safety Partnerships, dissemination of crime prevention advice, and crime prevention measures.
- Public utilities: the proportion of households connected to main gas, water, sewerage and electricity, and data on public telephones and recycling facilities. In 2000, this area was limited to questions on the availability of recycling facilities provided by the parish and by voluntary groups.
Parish survey (1991-2000): The subject matter of the RSS remained broadly the same in the 1991, 1994 and 1997 sweeps, although there were changes to some of the questions and changes to the structure of the questionnaire. The main report on the 1997 survey includes a summary of the differences between the questions asked in 1997, and the questions asked in the two earlier sweeps of the RSS. The questions asked of parish clerks in 2000 were more focussed than those in previous surveys, as a result of an emphasis on gathering as much data as possible from existing data sources. Some areas which had been covered by the parish questionnaires in the previous surveys were not covered at all in 2000, including questions on banking facilities, child care groups, schools and colleges, adult education facilities, daycare groups, residential homes and sheltered housing, police and emergency services, and public utilities. Other topics which had featured in previous sweeps were dealt with in 2000 more narrowly. For example, in 1991-1997 parishes were asked to supply data on the numbers of doctors' practices, dental surgeries, clinics, etc in the parish. In 2000, by contrast, the questionnaire only asked for data on branch surgeries in each settlement, as data on the location of main surgeries, health centres, dentists and pharmacies was already available to the Countryside Agency from other sources. At the same time, however, the 2000 questionnaire also covered some subjects which had not been dealt with previously, such as the availability of outlets selling locally produced food.
Geographical availability of services (2000 survey): In the 2000 survey, data supplied from various external suppliers on the geographical availability of services was initially analysed to calculate the distance from each unit postcode to the nearest outlet for each service. This distance - expressed in size bands - was used to produce the national maps in the main report on the 2000 survey. However, data at postcode level does not form part of the 2000 dataset. Instead, the dataset contains the results of aggregating the unit postcode data to two higher levels: settlement and ward. The settlements covered by the geographical analysis are those appearing in the 1998 Rural Settlement Gazetteer - a smaller set than the population of settlements in the parish component. The wards used in the ward-level tables on geographical availability are taken from the 2000 Index of Multiple Deprivation, and cover both urban and rural wards.
The settlement files on geographical availability (referred to as 'settlement summaries') record the distance from the centre of the settlement to the nearest service outlet, expressed in eleven 2 kilometre bands (0-2 km up to 11-20+ km). In the ward level files, the same bands are used to record the number of household postal delivery points (taken as a measure of the number of households) within each band, in relation to a particular type of service outlet. Both the settlement and ward level tables on geographical availability measure proximity to the following 'service outlets': primary schools, secondary schools, Job Centres, doctors' surgeries, cash points, banks and building societies, petrol stations and supermarkets. In addition, the settlement level tables record proximity to post offices, Benefits Agency offices, and hospitals, while the ward level tables also record proximity to libraries.
The datasets in this series are available to download. Links to individual datasets can be found at piece level.
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