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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of digital-only (a) services and (b) reporting requirements on farming businesses.

Defra seeks to introduce services that are digital by default which help users to succeed first time, and an assisted digital route is provided for those who are unable to complete a service online. This equally applies to reporting requirements on farming businesses, the main requirement being the Annual Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture which is digital by default but also available as a paper survey form.