Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of government policy on rural areas, and how they intend to ensure that government policy takes the needs of rural communities into account.

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed.   Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.

Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.

Defra works with government departments to encourage rural proofing by providing advice and guidance. As set out in our response to the House of Lords Select Committee report 2018, we have also published three annual reports detailing how rural proofing has been applied in England. All the reports were compiled with contributions from other Government Departments.

Our commitment to rural proofing remains strong and has been carried forward through meetings and discussions with other departments and external stakeholders. The government is also reviewing how we can improve the effectiveness of rural proofing for the future.