Written evidence submitted by East Riding of Yorkshire Council
(Director of Planning & Economic Regeneration)
[RBB 0075]
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee Inquiry
- Rural Broadband and Digital Only Services
Executive Summary
Phase 1 of the national broadband programme will make superfast broadband available to over 42,000 properties in the East Riding of Yorkshire and provide improved infrastructure to support digital inclusion in those areas. Additional measures and funding will be necessary to penetrate harder to reach, 'in need' rural communities in areas where phase 1 of the programme has not reached.
Digital-only programmes necessarily require additional support measures to engage with those customers not previously active online, or not confident in working digitally. Informal feedback from farming industry contacts locally suggests there is considerable uncertainty regarding the new Common Agricultural Policy application system and the need for online-only submissions. Limited local feedback is currently available in respect of targeted correspondence sent by the Rural Payments Agency to businesses identified as being those in most need of assistance to get online, but it is understood that separate industry-led workshops are also being organised in preparation for the new CAP application system.
1.1 East Riding of Yorkshire Council signed a contract with British Telecom (BT) in September 2013 to make superfast broadband available to over 42,000 properties. This relates to phase 1 of the Government's Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) led national programme. To date over 13,000 properties have been covered with a further 4,000 by the end of 2014.
1.2 Phase 1 is funded by BDUK - £5.57m, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) - £4.4m and East Riding of Yorkshire Council. BT is contributing £4m towards the programme which will see a total investment of around £14m by December 2015.
1.3 BDUK has now extended the national programme to 2017 (Phase 2) with the goal of making superfast broadband available to 95% of the country. I am pleased to advise that Broadband Delivery UK has earmarked £5m for the East Riding in order to assist with this ambition. The Council therefore successfully applied for this funding in June 2014 which will become available once match funding has been sourced and secured. The Council is investigating all sources of funding and is in close discussions with BDUK in order that phase 2 can go ahead in the East Riding. Discussions have also been held with the Humber and the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to ascertain whether local economic regeneration funds can be used as match. To date no funds have been identified by either Local Enterprise Partnership, however the dialogue continues with BDUK in the hope that funding will become available and that a procurement exercise can start in the New Year.
1.4 The latest information with regard to the roll out will be published on the Council's broadband website www.broadband.eastriding.gov.uk.
1.5 Accessing better broadband understandably remains a key issue for many rural communities and businesses in the East Riding, particularly those in areas where phase 1 of the BDUK-led programme has not (yet) reached. The hardest to reach communities are typically those located the greatest distances from existing broadband infrastructure, and require a substantially higher investment per property to upgrade. However, these are also some of the most in-need, digitally challenged communities. Phase 1 of the broadband programme has focused on maximising the coverage of the superfast broadband roll-out, but it is appreciated that BDUK is also supporting a number of national pilot projects to test alternative technologies and funding models in the hardest to reach areas, to inform future policy and investment. Some East Riding communities have already explored and progressed alternative broadband options, and several commercial wireless broadband providers (and one community provider) operate across parts of the East Riding.
1.6 To emphasise the challenges facing harder to reach areas for broadband, some of those communities in the East Riding are also currently unable to access any 3G mobile network coverage to make mobile broadband a possible alternative. Even basic 2G mobile phone provision is patchy across the East Riding with many partial notspot areas. 4G remains a future option but coverage in the East Riding is currently extremely limited. One rural parish councillor and businessman recently described his village as a ‘digital void’, due to the combined broadband/mobile phone challenges experienced. Another parish clerk in a village not yet included in broadband upgrade plans recently spent over four hours attempting to download a standard definition film to watch, a process undertaken comparatively swiftly in areas with fast and reliable broadband connectivity. These are not isolated examples, but they underpin the need for good broadband in all areas for both social and economic reasons, to increase rural business efficiency and growth, support flexible home-working opportunities, enable reliable and workable access to an increasing number of digital-only programmes, and to help combat rural disadvantage.
1.7 Phase 1 of the national broadband programme is making new opportunities available to thousands of rural residents and businesses across the East Riding, and providing improved infrastructure to support digital inclusion in those areas. Additional measures and funding will still be necessary to penetrate harder to reach, in-need communities which are at risk of being left behind and increasingly digitally isolated, widening the digital divide.
system applications
2.1 Based on informal feedback from farming industry contacts locally, there appears to be considerable uncertainty regarding the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) application system and the need for online-only submissions for the Basic Payment Scheme, New Environmental Land Management Scheme and other funding elements.
2.2 Given the tight timescale for the introduction of the new CAP, some local farm businesses have expressed concerns whether new digital-only systems will have been trialled sufficiently to iron out any operational difficulties when they go ‘live’. It is also understood that all CAP guidance booklets and documentation, which are typically sizeable documents, will only be available online – the new online CAP system is therefore expected to create an additional and ongoing need to download documentation, requiring a reasonable broadband speed and reliable broadband connection. Due to the rurality of farm locations, it is likely that many farm businesses across the country will fall into ‘hard to reach’ areas that will not be covered by phase 1 of the superfast national broadband programme. Although the national broadband programme is also committed to providing support for a minimum 2Mbps basic broadband service to be universally made available to properties not reached by superfast as part of phase 1, this will not be undertaken in time for the start of the new CAP system in the East Riding. It is anecdotally understood that some farm businesses in the East Riding are still currently reliant on slow ‘dial-up’ internet services, although it is difficult to quantify the numbers involved.
2.3 Local evidence also suggests that some rural businesses have previously submitted online documentation (eg. vat returns, PAYE) using facilities such as public libraries due to limited broadband access in the workplace - an increased requirement for more digital upload and download activity could impact on the cost and feasibility of such practices, and necessitate more permanent solutions. Similarly, where farm businesses have previously used agents to submit online returns, as is understood to be typical practice, increased requirements for digital upload and download (and indeed replacing written correspondence with email) would potentially impact on farm business costs and the operational relationship with agents.
3.1 Digital-only programmes necessarily require additional support measures to engage with those customers not previously active online, or not confident in working digitally. It is understood that approximately 70% of properties in the East Riding currently have an active broadband connection, but identifying and engaging with those not connected is not straightforward.
3.2 Limited local feedback is currently available in respect of the targeted correspondence recently sent by the Rural Payments Agency (CAP Information Service Team) to farm businesses identified as being in most need of assistance getting online. At this stage, it is therefore difficult to assess whether the targeted support is reaching all of the right customers, or whether the support offered is appropriate and beneficial. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that farm businesses which have previously engaged in limited digital business activity would still benefit from additional support measures to raise awareness of new CAP requirements and increase confidence in responding digitally as the default option.
3.3 It is understood that the farming industry has responded in a pro-active manner by organising regional workshops/clinics for farmers, to increase their IT skills and run through the process of registering with the Rural Payments Agency (eg. National Farmers’ Union CAP roadshows). However, limited feedback from farm businesses in the East Riding is currently available. Training offered by other organisations such as Lantra will presumably also incorporate internet skills for land-based businesses. A range of different local and national organisations could therefore potentially be involved in delivering digital support services to rural businesses and residents, and a co-ordinated approach between agencies would reduce the risk of duplication and help to maximise the reach of the support services available.
19 November 2014