Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the report by the National Farmers Union NFU digital survey results, published on 8 February, and (2) the finding in that report that more than four in ten farmers do not have access to fast and reliable broadband.

The Government has delivered superfast broadband to over five million premises, mainly in rural areas, which means that 96% of UK premises have access to superfast speeds and the UK has one of the highest rates of rural superfast coverage in Europe.

However, the Government recognises that further investment in rural broadband is needed, as the National Farmers Union’s recent report demonstrates. That is why the Government is investing an unprecedented £5 billion to further subsidise deployment of gigabit broadband in the hardest to reach 20% of the country. The majority of this funding will be deployed in rural areas, and will connect farms in these areas. The £5 billion investment will prioritise deployment to premises without access to superfast broadband, where possible.