Co-chairs Philip Dunne, MP (Ludlow) and Rebecca Pow, MP (Taunton Deane) were elected on Tuesday (30 January).

Speaking after the event the Co-Chairs said: "We are pleased to have been appointed to lead this group of parliamentarians at this time.

    See also: Politicians discuss rural vulnerability issues

"Rural Services generally are very stretched and many are being centralised whilst at the same time there are severe reductions in public transport across rural areas making access to services more difficult for many rural residents.

"Just last week we co-hosted the first Rural Vulnerability Day in Parliament when we were able to discuss a range of issues impacting on rural people and rural communities.

    Detailed findings

"Through the All-Party Group we will be able to investigate many of these issues in more detail and present our findings to Ministers.

"Importantly, we will also look at examples of innovative responses being introduced by the service providers."

The secretariat to the all-party group is provided by the Rural Services Network.

    Important group

RSN chief executive Graham Biggs said: "We are delighted that Philip Dunne and Rebecca Pow have agreed to lead this important group.

"We have worked with both of them in the past and look forward to doing so again.

"They both have great knowledge and experience of rural services issues from their own constituencies.

"Both are committed to ensuring that rural issues are given due attention."