Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the extent to which poor broadband access prevents farmers to accessing online CAP applications.

The rollout of superfast broadband is a key priority. The £778m Superfast Broadband Programme will provide 95% of UK premises with access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017.

The RPA online system had been designed to operate on older dial-up internet connection speeds. In addition, many farmers in rural areas have affordable access to satellite broadband connection and the RPA had mobile satellite units to assist those in very hard to reach areas. In 2015, farmers were given the option of paper-based application.