Rural Scotland Key Facts 2015

Services and Lifestyle

Access and Convenience of Services

Figure 6: Percentage within 15 minute drive time of service by geographic area, 2012

Source: Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, 2012
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 6 shows that only rural areas of Scotland are not within a 15 minute drive time to key services. For example 84% of people in remote rural areas and 99% of people in accessible rural areas live within a 15 minute drive time to a GP compared to 100% of the population in the rest of Scotland. It should be noted that due to improvements to the methodology^[4] of calculating drive times in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2012, the drive times are not directly comparable to SIMD 2009.

The greatest difference observed in drive time is to the nearest secondary school. In remote rural areas, 56% people live within a 15 minute drive time to a secondary school, compared to 89% of people in accessible rural areas and 100% of people in the rest of Scotland.

Figure 7: Percentage of population within 15 minute drive time by public transport of service, by geographic area, 2012

Source: Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, 2012
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 7 shows that the proportion of people within a 15 minute drive time to key services by public transport is much lower in both remote and accessible rural areas compared to the rest of Scotland. The figures are particularly low in rural areas with respect to drive time to the nearest shopping centre. Unlike the drive times shown in Figure 6, there have been no methodological changes to the calculation of drive times by public transport.

Figure 8: Percentage finding services very or fairly convenient by geographic area, 2012

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2012
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 8 shows that, in general, a lower percentage of people in rural areas find key services convenient, when compared to the rest of Scotland. This is particularly noticeable for key services such as hospitals, dentists, chemists, public transport, banking services and cash machines. For example, 54% of residents of remote rural areas find the nearest dentist convenient, compared to 79% of rest of Scotland residents.

Figure 9: Satisfaction with the quality of public transport services delivered by geographic area, 2013

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 9 shows that 29% and 22% respectively of the population in remote and accessible rural areas are not satisfied with the quality of public transport service delivered in their area. This compares to only 12% of the population in the rest of Scotland.

The opposite is true for those that are satisfied with quality of public transport service delivered in their area. In the rest of Scotland 64% of the population are satisfied compared to 44% and 46% in remote and accessible rural areas.

Table 10: Households with home internet access by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Yes	85%	82%	77%
No	15%	18%	23%
Don't know	-	-	0%
All	100%	100%	100%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

From Table 10, it can be seen that the households with the highest proportion of home internet access are in remote rural areas (85%) followed by accessible rural areas (82%). The lowest proportion of households with home internet access are in the rest of Scotland (77%).

Table 11: Households with broadband (households with internet connection only) by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
A broadband connection like BT broadband, Virgin or Sky	97%	97%	95%
A dial-up connection through a phone line	0%	1%	1%
A USB dongle or connection through a mobile phone/smartphone/tablet	3%	2%	4%
Other	0%	-	-
Don't know	1%	1%	1%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Of those households with home internet access, almost all of them have a broadband connection. This is true for all areas of Scotland.

These figures do not show that broadband is not available to a higher proportion of homes in rural areas of Scotland. In addition, the availability of superfast broadband is much lower in rural areas than in the rest of Scotland. Further information can be found in the report 'Availability of communication services in the UK'^[5] published by Ofcom in May 2013.

Table 12: Methods used to dispose of food waste¹ by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
General waste with other rubbish	64%	54%	66%
Local Authority provided caddy or other receptacle	24%	43%	37%
Home composting e.g. Heap in garden or allotment, green cone	29%	18%	6%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. Respondents can choose more than one option.

Table 12 shows that households in remote rural areas are more likely to dispose of food by home composting (29%) compared to other areas of Scotland. Accessible rural areas show the highest proportion of households that will dispose of food waste by means of a local authority provided caddy or other receptacle. In the rest of Scotland the highest proportion of households dispose of food waste in their general waste with other rubbish (66%), although this is only marginally higher than in remote rural areas (64%).

Travel Patterns

Table 13: Cars normally available for private use by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
None	13%	13%	34%
One	45%	42%	44%
Two or more	42%	45%	22%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 13 shows that households in rural Scotland are more likely to have access to at least one car, than households in the rest of Scotland. This is perhaps a reflection of the longer journey times to key services by public transport as reported in Figure 7 or the lower proportion of people in rural areas that are satisfied with the quality of public transport services that are delivered (Figure 9).

Table 14: How adults usually travel to work/education by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Walking	10%	5%	14%
Driver of a car or van	77%	77%	57%
Passenger in a car or van	5%	6%	6%
Bicycle	1%	2%	3%
Bus (ordinary or works)	3%	5%	13%
Rail	-	2%	5%
Other	3%	4%	3%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 14 shows that people in rural areas are more likely to drive to work/education and less likely to take public transport, compared to the rest of Scotland.

In 2007, the Scottish Government introduced a National Indicator to increase the proportion of journeys to work made by public or active transport^[6].

Table 15: How school children normally travel to school by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Walking/bicycle	36%	29%	58%
Passenger in a car/van	23%	30%	23%
Bus (ordinary, school, works, or private)	40%	35%	16%
Other	1%	6%	2%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 15 shows that children in rural areas are more likely to travel to school by bus than by any other mode of transport, whereas children in the rest of Scotland are more likely to walk or cycle.

Figure 6 shows that a greater proportion of children living in rural areas are outwith
15 minutes drive to primary schools and in particular, secondary schools. This is likely to have an impact on the lower proportion of children in rural areas that normally either walk or cycle to school.

Figure 10: Distance travelled¹ to work by population (16 to 74) in employment by geographic area, 2011

Source: 2011 Census, National Records of Scotland
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. The distance travelled, in the week before the census, is a calculation of the straight line between the postcode of place of residence and postcode of workplace.
2. 'Other' includes no fixed place of work, working on an offshore installation and working outside the UK.

The highest proportion of people living in remote rural areas work at home (21%). This proportion is higher than for people living in accessible rural areas (15%) and more than double the proportion of people living in the rest of Scotland (9%).

In accessible rural areas the highest proportion of people travel between 10 km and 20 km to work (22%), while in the rest of Scotland the highest proportion of people travel between 2 km and 5 km to work (22%).

Almost a third of people living in accessible rural areas travel between 10 km and 30 km to work. As accessible rural areas are within 30 minutes drive time to the nearest settlement with a population of 10,000 or more, this could indicate that people living in accessible rural areas are commuting to urban areas to work.

Figure 11: Total expenditure on fuel for cars per month by geographic area, 2013

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 11 shows that residents in rural Scotland are more likely than those in the rest of Scotland to spend over £100 per month on fuel for their cars. The proportion of residents of remote and accessible rural areas that report that they spend over £100 per month of fuel are 61% and 62% respectively, compared to 47% in the rest of Scotland. A higher level of expenditure on fuel for cars is likely to be, in part, due to longer driving distances to key services, as shown in Figure 6.

Education

Table 16: Highest qualifications held by population aged 16 to 64 by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Degree Level or Equivalent	21%	27%	25%
HNC/HND or equivalent	13%	15%	15%
Higher/A-Level or equivalent	29%	27%	24%
Credit Standard Grade or equivalent	21%	17%	18%
General Standard Grade or equivalent	2%	2%	2%
Other	6%	4%	5%
No Qualifiactions	8%	8%	11%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Annual Population Survey in Scotland, January to December 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 16 shows that levels of school and college education attained are broadly comparable for accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland. A slightly lower proportion of residents of remote rural areas have a degree level qualification or equivalent compared to accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland.

It should be noted that the information in this table may reflect where people choose to live after achieving their qualifications, rather than reflecting attainment by those initially living in rural areas.

Table 17: Destination of school leavers from publicly funded secondary schools by geographic area, 2012-13

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Higher Education	38%	37%	36%
Further Education	22%	28%	28%
Training	2%	4%	5%
Employment	31%	21%	20%
Voluntary Work	1%	1%	1%
Activity Agreement	1%	1%	1%
Unemployed Seeking	5%	8%	7%
Unemployed Not Seeking	1%	1%	1%
Unknown	1%	0%	0%

Source: Destination of Leavers from Scottish Schools, 2012-13
(Based on school leaver's home address and Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2009-2010)

Table 17 shows the proportion of school leavers who proceed to higher education is very similar across all three areas of Scotland. Fewer school leavers in remote rural areas go on to further education or training compared to school leavers in accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland. A higher proportion of school leavers in remote rural areas (31%) go straight into employment compared to accessible rural areas (21%) and the rest of Scotland (20%).

Health

Figure 12: Life expectancy at birth by geographic area, 2011-2013

Source: Life Expectancy Statistics, National Records of Scotland
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 12 shows that the life expectancy in remote rural and accessible rural areas is around 79 years for males, nearly three years more than in the rest of Scotland. For females, the life expectancy in rural areas is around 82 years, which is nearly two years more than in the rest of Scotland. It should be noted that there is an overall increasing trend in life expectancy at birth for both males and females in Scotland.

In all areas of Scotland, the life expectancy of females is higher than that of males. The largest difference in life expectancy between males and females is for the rest of Scotland (4.3 years). Overall, the life expectancy of people born in rural Scotland is higher than in the rest of Scotland.

Table 18: Rate of hospital admissions (emergency and cancer) by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Emergency admissions rate per 100,000 population	9,470	8,646	10,665
Cancer admissions rate per 100,000 population	2,800	2,448	2,719

Source: Information Services Division, NHS Scotland
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 18 shows that there was a different pattern observed for hospital rates by geographic areas between emergency and cancer admissions in 2013. The emergency admissions rate is highest in the rest of Scotland, whereas the cancer admissions rate is highest in remote rural areas of Scotland. Please not that these data are not adjusted to account for the different age profiles (see Figure 2) which would affect admission rates.

Table 19: Whether respondent smokes by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Yes	18%	20%	24%
No	82%	80%	76%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 19 shows that a higher percentage of people in the rest of Scotland smoke (24%), compared to people in remote and accessible rural areas (18% and 20%).

In 2007, the Scottish Government introduced a National Indicator to reduce the percentage of the adult population who smoke^[7].

Housing

Figure 13: Property type by geographic area, 2013

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 13 shows that 94% of properties in remote rural Scotland are houses or bungalows, more than half of which are detached. The profile is similar in accessible
rural areas, with a slightly higher prevalence of flats and terraced houses and a lower prevalence of detached housing. In contrast, in the rest of Scotland flats account for
41% of the housing stock, with the remaining 59% being split relatively evenly between detached, semi-detached and terraced houses. In the rest of Scotland the smallest proportion of the housing stock are detached properties (16%).

Table 20: House sales¹ by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
Number of Sales	3,662	8,843	58,104
Change from 2012	14%	29%	18%
Mean Price	£171,138	£204,267	£155,546
Change from 2012	1%	4%	2%
Median Price	£147,500	£180,000	£128,500
Change from 2012	3%	6%	3%

Source: Registers of Scotland
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. These figures cover sales of new build houses and market sales from one person to another for prices between £20,000 and £1,000,000. Other sales have been excluded as these may be non market sales or may have a large impact on the mean sale price. An urban rural classification was assigned to around 96% of sales. The 4% (2,922 records) for which it was not possible to assign an urban rural classification have been excluded from all figures above.

Table 20 shows that the highest average (mean) price, based on actual house sales, was in accessible rural areas, around £33,000 higher than in remote rural areas and nearly £49,000 higher than in the rest of Scotland. The highest median price was also in accessible rural areas.

In 2013 more house sales took place than in 2012 in all areas of Scotland, with the largest increase taking place in accessible rural areas (29%). The smallest increase was seen in remote rural areas (14%).

Please note the prices do not necessarily compare like with like as prices are not adjusted for property type and size (Figure 13 shows the differences in property types by geographic area).

Figure 14: Housing tenure¹ by geographic area, 2013

Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. A description of housing tenure can be found under Definitions in the Notes section.

Figure 14 shows that compared with the rest of Scotland a higher proportion of households in rural Scotland are owner occupied (71% and 72% respectively in remote and accessible rural areas, compared with 59% in the rest of Scotland) and a smaller proportion rent from Local Authorities/Scottish Homes or housing associations/Co-operatives (14% in both remote and accessible rural areas, compared with 25% in the rest of Scotland). The rate of private renting is slightly higher in the rest of Scotland at 14% compared to 11% in both remote and accessible rural areas.

Table 21: Use of housing stock by geographic area¹, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
% Vacant dwellings2	5%	3%	3%
% Second homes3	7%	2%	1%
% Dwellings with a single adult discount4	29%	29%	40%

Source: Estimates of households and dwellings in Scotland, 2013, National Records of Scotland
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. Data zone figures are not available on second homes for Clackmannanshire. These data zones have been removed from calculations of second homes for each urban rural category.
2. Vacant dwellings include dwellings which are unoccupied and long term empty properties.
3. Second homes are dwellings subject to a Council Tax discount of between 10% and 50% due to being second homes (including self-catering holiday accommodation available to let for a total of less than 140 days per year).
4. Dwellings with a single adult discount include dwellings with a single adult, one adult living with one or more children, or adults who are 'disregarded' for Council Tax purposes.

Table 21 shows the percentage of vacant dwellings, those occupied as second homes and those eligible for Council Tax single adult discount. The largest proportion of second homes is in remote rural areas with 7% of dwellings being used as second homes. The rest of Scotland has the largest proportion (40%) of single adult households with both remote and accessible rural areas having 29% of dwellings with just one adult resident.

The number of vacant dwellings is slightly higher in remote rural areas (5%) than in accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland (both 3%).

Table 22: Energy Performance Certificate¹ rating by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
A (92 plus)	-	-	-
B (81-91)	-	0%	1%
C (69-80)	13%	27%	38%
D (55-68)	41%	40%	46%
E (39-54)	31%	23%	13%
F (21-38)	14%	9%	2%
G (1-20)	1%	1%	0%
Mean Rating	54	59	65
Median Rating	57	61	66

Source: Scottish House Condition Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Notes:
1. For Energy Efficiency Ratings (EERs), band A represents high energy efficiency, while band G denotes low energy efficiency. A full description of Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) and EERs can be found under Definitions in the Notes section.

Table 22 shows that the housing stock in rural Scotland is generally less energy efficient than in the rest of Scotland. In remote rural areas, the median energy efficient rating is 57 compared to 61 in accessible rural areas and 66 in the rest of Scotland. Despite the difference in the actual median ratings, the housing stock in all areas would still be given the same band for their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) - band D.

A higher proportion of the housing stock in rural areas are in the lower bands (F and G) than in the rest of Scotland. In remote rural areas it is 15% and in accessible rural areas it is 10%. This compares to only 2% of the housing stock in the rest of Scotland.

Figure 15: Fuel poverty by geographic area, 2013

Source: Scottish House Condition Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

A household is defined as being in fuel poverty if it would be required to spend more than 10% of its income (including Housing Benefit or Income Support for Mortgage Interest) on all household fuel use. 'Extreme fuel poverty' is defined as a household having to spend more than 20% of its income on household fuel.

Figure 15 shows that the proportion of households in remote rural Scotland which are classed as extreme 'fuel poor' is more than double that of the proportion in the rest of Scotland (22% compared to 9%).

Almost two thirds of households in remote rural Scotland are classed as 'fuel poor', while nearly half of households in accessible rural Scotland are in fuel poverty. In contrast, in the rest of Scotland 64% of households have been classed as 'not fuel poor'

Figure 16: Presence of condensation, damp and urgent disrepair by geographic area, 2013

Source: Scottish House Condition Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Figure 16 shows that homes in remote rural areas of Scotland are slightly more likely to be affected by damp and condensation. The level of urgent disrepair is highest amongst homes in remote rural areas (47%) and lowest in accessible rural areas (34%). Urgent disrepair relates to levels of disrepair requiring immediate repair to prevent further damage or health and safety risk to occupants. Urgency of disrepair is only assessed for external and common elements.

Table 23: Presence of loft insulation in homes by geographic area, 2013

	Remote Rural	Accessible Rural	Rest of Scotland
No loft insulation	4%	0%	1%
Less than 100mm	5%	4%	7%
100mm to 200mm	29%	33%	29%
More than 200mm	61%	62%	62%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: Scottish House Condition Survey, 2013
(Using Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2013-2014)

Table 23 illustrates the prevalence and thickness of loft insulation. Houses in remote rural areas (4%) are slightly more likely to have no loft insulation than homes in accessible rural areas and the rest of Scotland (0% and 1%, respectively).

Across the whole of Scotland, almost two thirds of properties with lofts have more than 200 mm of loft insulation. This shows that now the majority of properties have some loft insulation, the trend is to have a greater thickness of loft insulation.