Having lived in cities for the first 40 years of my life, moving to a small village in the South Hams was possibly the biggest culture shock I’ve experienced.

The last 18 years have taught me how deep the urban/rural divide is in the UK, and how poorly rural communities are understood, or supported by central Government.

To see this all you have to do is look at government spending. Spending power in predominantly urban areas currently stands at £573.51 per head, compared to £407.32 in rural ones.

Similarly, urban councils get a huge 41% (£166.19) more per head than rural ones, despite council tax being on average 20% higher in rural areas.

This was a trend started by the Conservatives, but Labour has picked up from where they left off. In March, the Government announced its Plan for Neighbourhoods, which is more or less its version of Levelling Up.

Under the Scheme, 75 areas across the UK will receive up to £20m to support high street regeneration, local services, and public spaces. I can think of more than one town in the South West which could benefit hugely from this, but unfortunately, the Government only selected one town from the entire region, compared to 13 in the North West.

Part of this could be down to the areas Labour cabinet ministers represent… But just as important is how we measure deprivation. The Index of Multiple Deprivation, which is used to capture need for core Local Authority services, is urban-centric and woefully out of date, relying on data from 2019.

It misses small, dispersed rural pockets of acute deprivation. All it takes is one or two very wealthy residents to skew the figures for an entire settlement – meaning deprivation can be well hidden.

It paints a rosy picture - when in reality, Devon is considerably more deprived than the national average on several key measures. Housing and low wages are two that often crop up, but access to services is also very poor.

There are only two banks in South Devon left open in an area of around 450 square miles. Many post offices are closing too, despite providing an essential service particularly for older people who don’t drive and need postage and banking services.

In many places, bus services don’t exist, and taxis are prohibitively expensive – it can cost £150 for some in South Devon to do a round trip to their nearest hospital. And the proportion of rural premises with access to gigabit-capable broadband was 47% last year, compared to 84% in urban areas.

The previous government commissioned a piece of work to investigate rural deprivation. This is due to be completed this year, and at the debate, I asked the Minister for Rural Affairs for an update on this work’s completion.

I also urged the Minister to reconsider cuts in rural funding and service delivery grants. While the South West might stir images of postcard-ready towns and glorious sea views, the truth is that deprivation is not just present here, but growing, and whole communities are being left behind.

If the Government is truly committed to growth, it must take urgent action to address this.