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Rural Communities (Recession)

My apologies to the hon. Gentleman, but I am not in a position to respond to that point directly. The Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Wansdyke (Dan Norris), may be able to do so when winding up the debate. If he is not in a position to do so, I will certainly write to the hon. Gentleman tomorrow with the latest position regarding the plant that he mentions. The issue of broadband was raised. The Government are aware that in many rural areas there are significant barriers in terms of access, speed, cost and quality to broadband provision that still need to be overcome. We want to ensure that rural areas are not left behind as next-generation networks and other digital platforms develop. The European economic recovery package, agreed in March, allocated €1.02 billion to the rural development programme at EU level. The UK's share of that is approximately £12 million. Final decisions on how funding should be allocated are being taken now, and rural broadband is one of the issues being considered. In addition, Lord Stephen Carter in the other place has asked the Commission for Rural Communities to produce a report examining the impact of digital technology on rural economies, and the potential barriers.