Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail (i) the number of Rural Needs Impact Assessments (RNIAs) under the Rural Needs Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, carried out by her Department and its arm’s-length bodies, of policies, strategies, and services affecting rural communities; and (ii) a breakdown of (a) the number of; and (b) which, strategies and services that were enhanced as a consequence of the RNIA, in each of the last five years.
Minister for Infrastructure: My Department complies with its statutory obligations under the Act – namely Section 1(1) and Section 3(1) of the Act to pay due regard to rural needs when developing, adopting, implementing or revising policies, strategies and plans, and designing and delivering public services and to monitor and report annually to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. The Act does not require public authorities to assess enhancements of strategies and services.
The table below outlines the Rural Needs Assessment screenings carried out on policies, strategies and delivery of public services over the last five years. As my Department’s arms length bodies were not included in the Rural Needs Act 2016 Schedule of Public Authorities they are not included in this table.
| 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
| 5 | 13 | 17 | 23 | 18 |
ENDS
Your MLA 