Rural Needs Impact Assessments
A Rural Needs Impact Assessment is the process by which policies, strategies and plans are assessed to determine whether they have a differential impact on rural areas and, where appropriate, adjustments are made to take account of particular rural circumstances.
Rural Needs Act (NI) 2016
The introduction of the Rural Needs Act (NI) 2016 made it a statutory duty, requiring public authorities to have due regard to rural needs when:
- developing, adopting, implementing or revising policies, strategies and plans
- designing and delivering public services.
The Rural Needs Act aims to improve outcomes for rural dwellers by ensuring that the social and economic needs of people in rural areas are properly considered by public authorities in their decision making processes and to increase transparency on how public authorities consider rural needs when undertaking their functions.
While there is no statutory duty to undertake a Rural Needs Impact Assessment, nor does undertaking a Rural Needs Impact Assessment equate to having due regard to rural needs, going through the step by step process outlined in the Rural Needs Impact Assessment will help ensure that the duty is fulfilled.
What does “Rural” mean?
The definition of “rural” used in Northern Ireland is those settlements with populations of less than 5,000 together with the open countryside. This definition was developed by the Inter-Departmental Urban-Rural Definition Group and was initially proposed in 2005 and amended in the Review of the Statistical Classification and Delineation of Settlements, NISRA, March 2015.
Rural Needs Impact Assessments published during the period: 1 January to 31 December 2026
- Warm Healthy Homes Fund
- Museums Policy for Northern Ireland
- A Bill to amend the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008
- Warm Healthy Homes Strategy