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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve productivity in the rural economy; and if she will make a statement.

Defra is improving productivity in the rural economy through a number of measures, including:

• through the Rural Development Programme in England investing in rural businesses and supporting the farming, food and forestry sectors to access new technology;
• working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to achieve the Government’s commitment to treble the number of apprenticeships in food, farming and agri-tech;
• working across Government, investing around £780m in the Superfast Broadband Programme to provide 95% of UK premises with superfast broadband by the end of 2017. We are exploring options to extend superfast coverage beyond the current 95% target;

• supporting Food Enterprise Zones, which will help unlock the potential of local food and farming businesses, boosting local economies and attracting more investment; and
• enabling food producers to further benefit from their local roots by supporting the expansion of Protected Food Names and the expansion of Country of Origin Labelling.

Boosting productivity in the rural economy, investing in a strong economy, and infrastructure such as roads, rail, and high speed broadband will also bring businesses closer to market.