Consultation Response Template

Transcription

1 Consultation Response Template Please use this template for submitting your responses and comments. The template should be read in conjunction with the proposals which can be viewed at To request a hard copy of the consultation papers please write, or , as detailed below or telephone The deadline for responses to this consultation is 16 March All responses should be received by then to ensure they can be fully considered. DARD welcomes any comments you wish to make on all of the proposals or just on those issues that are of particular interest to you in the consultation. If you are completing an electronic version of this form, it should be ed to: rural.proofing@dardni.gov.uk. Alternatively you can post a hard copy of the completed form to: Rural Proofing Bill Team Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Room 654 Dundonald House Ballymiscaw Belfast BT4 3SB All responses should be received by 16 March 2015 to ensure they can be fully considered.

2 Freedom of Information In line with the Department s policy of openness at the end of the consultation period, copies of the responses we receive may be made publicly available. The information they contain may also be published in a summary of responses, which will be placed on the internet at This summary will include a list of names of organisations or sectors that responded but not personal names, addresses or other contact details. If you do not consent to this, you must explicitly request that your response be treated confidentially. Any confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system in responses will not be treated as such a request. You should also be aware that there might be circumstances in which we will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with our obligations under Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations For further information about confidentiality of responses, please contact the Information Commissioner s Office, or visit their website at

3 RESPONDENT INFORMATION Please te this form must be returned with your response to ensure that we handle your response appropriately. 1. Name / Organisation Organisation Name (If applicable). Royal Town Planning Institute (NI) Title Mr Ms Mrs Miss Dr Please tick as appropriate Surname Williamson Forename Claire 2. Postal Address PO Box 69 CARRICKFERGUS BT38 8W Phone Claire.williamson@rtpi.org.uk

4 Consultation Questions 1) Do you support the need for change in line with DARD s aspirations (as outlined at paragraph 4.8): rural issues would be embedded in the development and delivery of all government strategies and policies (including spending plans); rural needs and impacts would be identified and addressed appropriately as a matter of course across government; there would be transparency and availability of information on rural proofing; and government would establish and maintain a joined-up and collaborative approach to considering and taking account of rural needs when designing all services. RTPI NI recognises the value of rural areas for their contribution to a whole range of benefits for modern rthern Ireland, including environmental, economic and social factors. Rural services often need to be planned and delivered in a different way to urban services and it is important that this is factored in early. The RTPI is a partner in the Rural Coalition in England, and we are able to draw upon the experiences of the Institute within this context to support activity in rthern Ireland. The Rural Coalition endorses the objective to achieve a positive, lasting legacy of sustainable rural communities in which people enjoy living and working with a full range of good quality local services while meeting the challenges of climate and economic change.

5 2) Do you think that placing a statutory duty on all government departments and local councils would help to ensure that the needs of rural dwellers are appropriately considered when policies and public services are being developed and delivered? As identified in the document the survey commissioned by DARD in 2005 the application or rural proofing in practice across rthern Ireland has been disappointing which would indicate that it is necessary to place a statutory duty upon all government departments. It is possible that with the transfer of planning powers to local councils and the introduction of community planning in April 2015 local councils may be more aware of the issues on a more local scale. While individual council, particularly those in rural areas will be more aware and have a better understanding of the need to rural proof and the potential impact this will have on housing, employment, education, leisure, social and transport issues of their own constituents it remains essential that the wider policy issues being produced by central government consider the needs of rural dwellers.

6 3) Do you think that such a duty should extend to non-departmental public bodies in addition to government departments and councils? If so, which bodies? The duty to enhance rural proofing when considering public services and policies should be integrated within the community planning process. This could be written into the agreement with the partners identified within the community plan and should include statutory, governmental and support partners. It is however difficult to name specific bodies as this will depend on the relevance within individual council areas, however there is an opportunity for there to be a statutory duty of the plan to ensure it has directed each of the partners to behave accordingly. In light of this, RTPI NI would suggest that there should be a duty upon the nondepartmental public bodies that provide services in or through rural areas including; - Translink; - The rthern Ireland Housing Executive; - The rthern Ireland Tourist Board; - The Arts Council for rthern Ireland; - Sport rthern Ireland; - The rthern Ireland Policing Board; - Invest rthern Ireland; - Commission for Older People in rthern Ireland; - rthern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service. It will be important to include rural issues in the relevant community plans and Local development plans developed by the new Councils, and these will be important mechanisms for delivery on rural needs.

7 4) Do you think that DARD should have a statutory role to promote and encourage other bodies to undertake rural proofing? Rural proofing requires a champion, this is clear from the previous experiences and research showing that the commitment to rural proofing has been disappointing. While DARD may be volunteers in the post currently it would be more beneficial to the process and the wider rural community that the champion is willing rather than it being obligatory upon an alternative government body. The opportunity to assist local councils in delivering a worth while, transparent and productive rural proofing process through the planning system should not be lost by this proposal.

8 5) Do you think that the proposed monitoring and reporting arrangements will help to improve the availability and transparency of information available about rural proofing? It is important in these situations that any policy or public services proposals are supported by evidence based research. It would help organisations if guidance is produced to support them, particularly in early years, in the development of monitoring systems and reporting.

9 6) Do you think that increased co-operation and collaboration between DARD, other government departments and public bodies is desirable? In addition to the comments made above it is also critical that this evidence based research is shared and that there can be cross departmental learning initiated. It is particularly prudent during these times of economic constraint that there is cooperation and collaboration between bodies to avoid duplicating work and wasting resources.

10 7) Do you agree with the strengthening of DARD s role in providing support for rural proofing? It is essential that rural proofing has a champion and that this champion should be the government body responsible for rural development.

11 8) Is there any other aspect of the proposals you wish to comment on? While the proposal is dealing with the introduction of a rural proofing bill and is not at this stage dealing with the detail on the delivery of rural proofing RTPI NI would like to draw your attention to the following document; The Rural Challenge delivering sustainable communities in the 21 st Century RTPI has been a partner in the production of this document, and while it relates to the English model, the challenges and proposals are comparative to the rthern Ireland context.

12 9) Do you have any views on the conclusions reached by DARD to screen out from further assessment the impacts of a Rural Proofing Bill in respect of: (i) Equality Impact Assessment; (ii) Regulatory Impact Assessment; and (iii) Rural Proofing?