Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what information his Department hold on plans for data centres to be built in areas supplied by the new reservoir announced for (a) East Anglia and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government does not routinely track individual plans for data centre developments. Water companies have no obligation to approve water for non-domestic uses, such as for data centres. Data centres may therefore be refused or restricted a supply connection if there are not sufficient water resources available. We encourage data centre developers to consider use of non-potable water, to embed water efficiency or water reuse in their design, and contact their proposed water and wastewater supplier early in the planning process to understand and plan for any potential water restrictions.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking with Openreach to deliver Full Fibre broadband to homes and businesses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government is committed to delivering 2030 nationwide gigabit connectivity coverage, with 86% of premises now able to access a gigabit-capable connection thanks to a pro-competition regulatory environment. As a result, there is now a thriving market of over 100 providers, including Openreach, investing over £40bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.
As part of Project Gigabit, we have announced six contracts with Openreach across the UK to provide access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection to premises that would not be connected through the commercial market.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent progress his Department has made on Project Gigabit.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We continue to make good progress on the delivery of Project Gigabit. According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, over 86% of UK premises can now access a gigabit-capable broadband connection.
At the beginning of this year, we signed four additional Project Gigabit contracts with Openreach and last month, we announced the first Project Gigabit contract in Scotland. In total, more than £2 billion of contracts have now been signed to bring fast, reliable broadband to hard-to-reach premises across the UK.