SERVICES in West Devon could be badly hit by changes in the way government money is allocated to rural areas, according to a new report issued on Monday.

The borough council is a member of the Rural Services Partnership, a cross-party coalition of England?s most rural local authorities. In its report, ?Rural Public Services in the Balance?, it warns that too little notice has been taken of rural deprivation and the extra cost of providing services in rural areas.

Government ministers are currently deciding on which type of new grant system they should adopt, to come into force from April 2003.

West Devon councillor Peter Hill, chairman of the borough?s influential policy committee, has this week written to ministers warning that a new grant system could take money away from hard-pressed rural communities.

Cllr Hill said: ?Rural councils are small and lack the political clout of the big urban authorities.

?The fear is that pressure from London and the big cities on ministers will skew the system in their favour.

?This would result in yet further reductions in funding for vital services to poorly supported and scattered rural communities, at a time when rural England is desperate for re-assurance that its concerns are being heard in Westminster and Whitehall.?

Cllr Hill said a letter had been sent to government minister Nick Raynsford, and to constituency MPs, calling for changes to be made to proposals already under consideration.

The key concerns of the Rural Services Partnership are that the new grant system takes money from rural service provision and that too little consideration has been given to the extra cost of providing services in rural areas.

It is also concerned that future governments could exploit the system to favour political allies.

Cllr Hill said: ?There is a false general assumption that urban areas are stricken by the worst forms of poverty and that rural areas are the most affluent. The true picture is much more complex.?

Cllr Hill said rural areas like West Devon suffered from low levels of public service, poor employment and low wealth. Poor transport and isolated communities made access to services even more difficult ? and those services were more expensive to provide due to distance and dispersal of communities.

West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett said the funding review of local government finance was ?the most important for over a decade? and that it was of ?critical importance? to Devon.

Mr Burnett, who spoke in the House of Commons last week on the subject, said there was a ?huge head of steam? building up about funding for Devon, particularly concerning education, on which subject he received more letters than on any other.