Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Selous Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

5. What recent progress his Department has made on the roll-out of superfast broadband; and if he will make a statement.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

6. What steps he is taking to extend broadband coverage.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

Our plans for the roll-out of superfast broadband mean that—

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. In the Thames Valley local enterprise partnership, which covers his constituency, the broadband plans are still at amber, rather than green, and I would be most grateful for his help in getting the three unitary authorities to work together to get those plans into a state where they can be approved. He rightly says that we need to be technology-neutral about this; fixed-line fibre will go into the ground in some areas, but for the more remote areas we will definitely need wireless solutions, be they mobile, wi-fi or satellite, and we will keep all options open.

[Andrew Selous]

Residents of villages such as Hockliffe, Stanbridge, Tilsworth and Eggington often have to make do with broadband speeds of only 1.5 megabits per second, which is very restrictive for local people and severely limits the ability of local businesses to grow. So when can residents in these villages expect things to get better for them?

[Mr Hunt]

Again, I ask for my hon. Friend’s help, because the plans for Bedfordshire are also amber-rated, rather than green-rated. We have said that we want all local authorities not only to start procurement for their broadband plans, but to complete procurement by this Christmas, otherwise we will consider taking back the funds that we have allocated and putting them in a national contract. We are very keen to ensure that roads start to be dug up and solutions actually happen by the start of next year.