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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of 7 July 2014, Official Report, columns 127-31, on Common Agricultural Policy, where the 10 centres for digital assistance for farmers will be located.

There will be three trial Digital Support Centres (DSCs) for specific invited applicants to test the service which will be run over the summer. These will be based in Cumbria and in Devon. Further DSCs will become available in the autumn to support farmers across England as more farmers from other areas are invited to register. The RPA is working now to identify the most appropriate locations for the DSCs to support this staged roll out. This analysis will include likely demand alongside information we have on Broadband not-spots and areas where trusted intermediaries are operating. It is anticipated that there will be more than 10 DSCs available as demand grows.