We recognise the importance of “rural proofing” health policy and applying a cross-governmental approach to ensuring that the mental health needs of rural and other communities’ are reflected in mental health government policy. Whilst we note the Committee’s recommendation for a joint Defra/DHSC rural mental health policy and delivery team, and agree that it is important for both departments, along with others in Whitehall, to work together to ensure rurality is considered as an issue in delivery of policy, we believe existing channels would be a more effective way of achieving this. As set out in this response, there are several areas where collaborative working across government is already taking place, and this will continue and develop further as opportunity arise. The upcoming Major Conditions Strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England, including mental ill-health... Future collaboration will be supported by the roll-out of the Mental Health Impact Assessment Tool, which will assist policymakers, across government, to consider the mental health and wellbeing impacts of all policies without undue burden. In response to the Committee’s recommendation that Defra should consult on how the Rural Wellbeing Framework will be used to measure rural communities’ mental health, the Rural Wellbeing Framework is intended as a tool to inform the development and evaluation of policies in rural areas and to incorporate wellbeing of communities and individuals. As such it can inform work on rural mental health, but it is not intended as a framework for measuring rural mental health and Defra does not intend to consult on its use.