Debate contribution: Financial Support for Rural Communities in Mid Ulster

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 12 November 2024.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

12 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Financial Support for Rural Communities in Mid Ulster

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4658867

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the Member for raising this important constituency matter and the other Members for their contributions to the debate. At the outset, let me say that, towards the end of my speech I will address the changes to inheritance tax and the loss of earmarked funding from Westminster. I thank the Member who has raised this issue. He advocates strongly for his constituency. He does it any time I encounter him in the corridors of the Building and on the phone. Fair play to him for securing the Adjournment debate. It is important to reassure Members that my Department remains focused on supporting the sustainability and growth of rural communities in Mid Ulster and beyond. That is not something that my Department can do alone, and it does not have the policy levers to address all the issues and challenges facing rural communities, as many are with other Departments. With the introduction of the Rural Needs Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, all Departments have a duty to have due regard to the social and economic needs of people in rural areas when developing and implementing policies and when designing and delivering public services. It is only through collaborative working across government that we will be able to deliver sustainable growth in rural areas, in particular in Mid Ulster, which is our focus today.

I assure you that my Department will continue to work with other Departments in its role as the rural champion to drive, influence and deliver better policies for rural communities. I am very aware that the closure of the Northern Ireland rural development programme that ran from 2014 to 2020 continues to be a concern to rural communities and stakeholders. I hear that regularly, particularly at Question Time. Mid Ulster received approximately £25·5 million of investment through that programme. The loss of rural development funding is a key issue. I am lobbying hard on behalf of rural communities for the support that they need. While the delivery of successive EU rural development programmes was a long-standing feature of DAERA's rural policy, the closure of the rural development programme has created the opportunity for my Department to consider its future rural policy remit. On 1 April, I established a new rural policy unit in the Department's rural affairs division, which is tasked with developing future rural policy for Northern Ireland. That will involve engaging with other Departments, councils, public authorities and stakeholders to inform collaborative policy proposals that are mindful of the changed rural landscape and the current and future needs of rural communities. My Department is committed, in this year's business plan, to developing for consultation a new evidence-based rural policy. Recently, I met officials to discuss the draft rural policy proposals. I am committed to engaging closely with rural stakeholders to provide an opportunity for them to inform future rural policy. My officials will continue to engage with those rural stakeholders. It is my intention that draft proposals will be consulted on early next year. While rural policy development is being taken forward, we are supporting sustainability and growth in rural communities, both locally and regionally, in a number of ways. We are delivering a number of initiatives under the TRPSI framework, which has been mentioned. I am delighted to have been in the position to allocate £6·1 million to the TRPSI programme from the Department's 2024-25 budget to deliver on initiatives that are outlined in the approved TRPSI action plan. To support voluntary and community sector organisations across Northern Ireland, the current rural community development support service contract provides funding support of £935,000 from the TRPSI programme to six rural support networks. The rural support network in Mid Ulster, the Cookstown and Western Shores Area Network, works collaboratively with the Community Organisations of South Tyrone and Area (COSTA) network to ensure that support is available to build the capacity of all rural groups in the Mid Ulster District Council area. For that work, the Cookstown and Western Shores Area Network receives £165,000 per annum. In June, I approved the opening of the rural micro capital grant scheme. That was after many people, including the Member who proposed this Adjournment topic, pushed me to do that. We got that out. It has been very popular. In August, letters of offer were issued to 916 voluntary and community sector organisations, awarding £1·5 million of TRPSI funding. Of the 916 letters of offer that were issued, 202 were issued in the Mid Ulster area, to the value of £343,000, to voluntary and community organisations for the purchase of capital items that will help to address localised poverty or isolation issues. I am pleased to advise that the second call for applications to the scheme opened yesterday. I encourage you all to highlight that amongst your constituents. Recently, I approved the opening of the rural business development grant scheme. It is too early to provide a breakdown of funds that have been allocated by specific council area, but I anticipate total funding to be in the region of £1·55 million to support the sustainability of rural microbusinesses. Other regional initiatives, such as the continued funding for the Rural Support charity, which is based in Mid Ulster, the farm families health checks programme in conjunction with the Public Health Agency, and the assisted rural travel scheme in collaboration with the Department for Infrastructure, all positively impact on the lives of people in Mid Ulster. My Department is undertaking an independent review of the TRPSI framework. That will inform us going forward. In the meantime, a TRPSI action plan for 2025-26 is being prepared for my consideration. When a budget for the next financial year is approved, I will allocate funds accordingly to initiatives that meet the TRPSI framework priority areas for intervention. That takes into account the priorities that have been outlined. My Department has also been working with DFC and DFI to deliver the COVID recovery small settlements regeneration programme. From the £26·5 million of cross-departmental budget, £3·15 million has been allocated to Mid Ulster. During the 2024-25 year, that funding will deliver seven capital regeneration projects that have been identified by Mid Ulster District Council; a great example of local government determining local priorities. I look forward to attending a celebration event to launch one of those projects tomorrow in Manor Park in Moneymore. Mid Ulster is very much on my mind today, and it will be again tomorrow. That transformation project was successfully completed with funding from the COVID small settlements initiative. The total project cost was £260,000, which included £127,000 from my Department.

Funding policies across my Department have an impact on rural communities and the wider rural economy. Although I do not have time to mention all the funding streams, I do not want to finish without talking about the valuable injection of funding into Mid Ulster. Each year, £26 million of direct payments are made to farmers. Another source of funding is the £25,000 grant for the Mid Ulster and Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituencies under the annual water quality improvement strand of the environment fund. There is also the funding that will come forward in projects under the Mid South West growth deal and investment areas of PEACE PLUS. There is still more to be done, and I am committed to working collaboratively across government to do more. It is important to note that the policy development work that has been undertaken by my Department is about adopting a strategic and collaborative approach. We need to work together across Departments to deliver for rural communities. I have some time left, so I will address the issues of inheritance tax and the earmarking of the budget, which a number of Members have raised in the Chamber today, and about which I talked to Patsy yesterday in the corridor. On inheritance tax and the changes to agricultural property relief, I have made it clear — I have been on the record and have been consistent in saying this — that the Budget that was announced on 30 October was a bad Budget for farmers. The decision to change the entitlements to agricultural property relief are causing real concern not just to me but to the farming community and rural communities across Northern Ireland. I have already raised that with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and urged a rethink. I support the Ulster Farmers' Union wholeheartedly in its campaign to urge that that decision be reversed. I will attend its rally next Monday night at the Eikon Exhibition Centre in Lisburn. It is important that the UK Government hear about the disproportionate impact that that will have on Northern Ireland. It is having a real impact on the mental health of farmers in Northern Ireland. The UK Government should listen. I am glad that the Secretary of State took up my request to engage with the Ulster Farmers' Union. He will meet the Ulster Farmers' Union next Tuesday. The UK Government need to listen and act. Westminster has removed the earmarking of funding from the next financial year. We are entering a new landscape. I totally get and fully appreciate the level of angst and concern among the farming community in Northern Ireland about the change. I have already spoken to the Finance Minister, and we have discussed the issue at the Executive. I am making a very strong case that, although the earmarking of funding may have been removed by Westminster, it is within the power of the Executive to earmark funding for agriculture, agrienvironment, rural development and fisheries locally. I will continue to make that case. We need to do that together as an Executive. It is important that we set aside that money so that we can support rural communities in Northern Ireland. I look to the future with confidence, because we, as an Executive, can work together and deliver for people. I thank the Member for securing the Adjournment debate. It has been constructive. It is important that rural communities in Northern Ireland are not forgotten, and that their voices are heard.

1,687 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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