The Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development has today launched its position paper on the review of the Department’s “Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Inclusion (TRPSI) Framework”.
The existing programme, which forms part of the overall Programme for Government 2011-15, was designed to address rural poverty and disadvantage and produce cohesive and tangible strategies to eliminate hardship and to increase social inclusion in rural areas. The Committee paper has examined the effectiveness of the current framework and sets out a number of important recommendations for a successor programme.
Speaking after today’s launch, the Committee Chairperson William Irwin MLA said: “During the course of our review we heard evidence from the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and rural community and voluntary groups, as well as commissioning a number of research papers focussing on current issues around rural poverty and isolation.
“We were keen to find out how the existing programme has functioned, what has worked well and what could be improved to maximise opportunities to relieve rural poverty and promote better social inclusion in the future.
“We were pleased to discover that the existing programme has made a substantial impact, with a number of rural community representatives citing the ‘Maximising Access to Services, Grants and benefits (MARA) Project’ as being particularly successful.
“This project has managed to target more than 14,000 vulnerable households across Northern Ireland and, in doing so, has increased access to home improvement and energy efficiency grants as well as welfare benefits. There can be no doubt that the key to MARA’s success has been its ability to tap into local knowledge and expertise and to target those most in need quickly and effectively.”
Mr Irwin concluded: “We did find issues around how rural deprivation is currently measured. It is important to note that unlike urban areas which are usually socially segregated, rural deprivation is spatial, with the relatively affluent often living alongside the most deprived. We are therefore calling on DARD to work with the Department for Finance and Personnel (DFP) to commission the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) to review how we measure and identify rural deprivation.”
Deputy Chairperson Joe Byrne MLA added: “The continuing pressures on the local agricultural sector are very real issues which leave many of our rural communities in, or at risk of, poverty and social exclusion.
“We have some concerns around the £1.7 million capital in the 2015/16 Budget, particularly as rural areas often require a more flexible approach to service delivery, with the focus on outreach and partnership directly with grassroots organisations. It is therefore crucial that DARD proactively engages with all stakeholders to ensure that suitable capital projects can be identified and importantly, that these can be delivered within the existing framework.”
Mr Byrne added: “One of our most important findings has been the enormous amount of exemplary work carried out by a widespread but cohesive network of rural voluntary and community groups, in delivering the current programme. DARD and indeed the new Councils must recognise and build on this extensive local knowledge and expertise in order to set the necessary foundations to inform and shape any future programme.”
The Committee Position Paper on DARD’s Anti-Poverty and Social inclusion paper can be found at: http://nia1.me/2h1
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