To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to detail the funding allocated by his Department to support women in business that are based in remote and rural communities.

DAERA provides important support and funding that is open to rural businesses. The LEADER Programme Rural Business Investment Scheme has supported 610 Letters of Offer to a range of businesses worth just over £21m. Under the pilot 2020 Rural Micro Business Growth Scheme, my Department has provided £445k to 20 businesses and through the Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation (TRPSI) Programme my Department has over the last 2 years provided £2.6m to 825 rural micro businesses through the Rural Business Development Grant Scheme. DAERA have also provided £2.3m to the Department for Communities led Covid-19 Recovery Revitalisation Programme which continues to help rural businesses, villages, towns and urban centres recover from the pandemic.

My Department provides support to the women’s voluntary and community sector (VCS) in collaboration with the Department for Communities (DfC) under the ‘Women in disadvantaged areas and rural areas’ strand of the Regional Infrastructure Support Programme (RISP). This funding supports capacity, skills, physical resources and structures which help voluntary and community organisations function effectively in order to meet the needs of the communities they serve.