Articles by Peter Crosskey

The UK parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee (EFRA) this week published its findings on the provision of rural broadband, warning that until there is completely reliable broadband coverage in the UK, “…there will be those who, through lack of online access, are disadvantaged through no fault of their own.” The committee heard that at present one in 10 CAP applicants either do not have a computer or do not use broadband. Last year, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) wrote to 18,000 farmers in England who would no longer qualify for Pillar I area-based support, leaving some 90,000 registrations that need to be completed by the May 15 deadline. With fewer than 100 days to go, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is reporting that just over 22,500 farm businesses have registered. This means that registration levels will need to top 700 farms/day to meet the deadline requirements. The union has been emailing and texting members to remind them of the need to register. The RPA has set up 50 help centres across England, where […]