Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 29 March (HL14672) and to the report by Rural England State of Rural Services 2018, published in February, whether they have made any assessment of why young people living in rural areas are more likely to engage in risky behaviours than those living in urban areas.

Primary responsibility for safeguarding young people sits with the local authority, the relevant clinical commissioning group and the police.

Government believes these locally based partnership arrangements are the best way to protect the welfare of all young people, taking account of local circumstances.