To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (i) for his assessment of the efficacy of the Rural Needs Act; and (ii) to outline the cross-departmental work that is carried out when decisions are being made on (a) health care; (b) education; (c) childcare; and (d) transport in rural areas.

The Rural Needs Act (NI) 2016 (the Act) aims to ensure that public authorities consider the particular needs of people in rural areas in their decision making processes and to increase transparency on how rural needs have been considered.

The Department published the 4th Rural Needs Annual Monitoring Report in December 2021 which contains information on how public authorities have had due regard to rural needs when exercising their functions. This report demonstrates that the Act is now embedded within public authorities and that public authorities are undertaking Rural Needs Impact Assessments routinely. The report also provides stakeholders with greater transparency on how public authorities have considered rural needs in their decision making processes.

Responsibility for decisions on health care, education, childcare and transport in rural areas lies with the Minister in the department with statutory responsibility for the particular matter and the Rural Needs Impact Assessment process requires departments to takes steps to identify the needs of people in rural areas which are relevant to the decision and to give appropriate consideration to those needs in the decision making process. My Department continues to work with other public authorities to help ensure that the Rural Needs Act (NI) 2016 is implemented effectively.

My Department also works in partnership with other public authorities to deliver a range of measures under its Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation (TRPSI) Framework including the Farm Families Health Checks programme which is delivered in partnership with the Public Health Agency (PHA) and the Northern Health and Social Care Trust and the Assisted Rural Travel Scheme which is delivered in partnership with the Department for Infrastructure and the Rural Community Transport Partnerships across Northern Ireland.