Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department has taken to ensure Project Gigabit contracts deliver (a) on time and (b) within budget.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All Project Gigabit contracts include measures and obligations regarding time and budget against which suppliers’ performance is monitored. These include measures to manage effective build plans, milestones, risks and issues.
Building Digital UK (BDUK) holds regular meetings with suppliers to discuss their progress. Each supplier’s performance is measured using monthly contractual reporting, reviewing the build progress and payment claims on each contract.
Failure to deliver to a contract milestone on any build phase of a contract can result in the trigger of a rectification plan process and cessation of payments until the milestone is achieved.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to prioritise connectivity to rural premises without access to gigabit-capable broadband in (a) England and (b) the South West.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 86% of premises in England have access to gigabit-capable broadband. To improve broadband connectivity further, we have put in place over 30 Project Gigabit contracts that are set to deliver fast, reliable broadband to over 1 million rural and hard-to-reach premises that would otherwise not be reached by the commercial market alone.
There are multiple contracts being delivered across the South West, including in Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. We recently announced new Project Gigabit contracts with Openreach that will also bring gigabit-capable broadband to premises in Devon and Somerset.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 to improve the rollout of broadband in rural areas under Project Gigabit.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 86% of premises in England have access to gigabit-capable broadband. To improve broadband connectivity further, we have put in place over 30 Project Gigabit contracts that are set to deliver fast, reliable broadband to over 1 million rural and hard-to-reach premises that would otherwise not be reached by the commercial market alone.
There are multiple contracts being delivered across the South West, including in Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. We recently announced new Project Gigabit contracts with Openreach that will also bring gigabit-capable broadband to premises in Devon and Somerset.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help ensure reliable mobile coverage in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This government wants people across the UK to benefit from reliable and good quality mobile coverage.
Through the Shared Rural Network, we are continuing to deliver 4G mobile connectivity to places where there is either limited or no coverage at all. Our ambition goes beyond this, and is for all populated areas, including rural areas, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030 – and we want to support the industry to deliver this.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 to help encourage (a) innovation and (b) tech-based start-ups in rural constituencies.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT is accelerating innovation through initiatives like the Higher Education Innovation Funding, currently £280m a year, enabling universities across England to support innovative new businesses in their local areas. Additionally, through the £12.2m Digital Growth Grant, DSIT supports the Ecosystem Partnership Programme which awards funding to regional organisations delivering support in their local ecosystems. This grant also supports a cohort of AgriTech businesses as part of the Industry Bridge programme, connecting startups with corporate partners, delivered by Codebase.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the distribution of improved (a) broadband and (b) mobile signal strength in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Government is committed to achieving nationwide gigabit broadband, removing barriers to commercial deployment and, where necessary, providing subsidy for hard-to-reach premises through Project Gigabit. According to the independent website ThinkBroadband, 85% of UK premises have access to gigabit-capable connections.
Government wants rural areas to benefit from mobile connectivity. The Shared Rural Network is improving coverage in rural areas, with 94.9% of the UK landmass having 4G coverage from at least one operator.
Our ambition is for all populated areas to have high-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to having the right policy and regulatory framework to support this.
I am aware that people’s experience on the ground does not always match Ofcom’s version of mobile signal, and I recently wrote to Ofcom, asking them to set out steps to improve their reporting.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of poor internet access on rural communities.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Poor internet access can have a devastating impact on rural and urban communities alike, which is why the government is determined to improve access and tackle digital exclusion. Digital connectivity is an important driver of economic growth. In 2022, productivity in rural areas was 86% of the average for England, a gap which improved internet access could reduce.
The Government is committed to improving broadband access in rural areas. Government’s £5 billion programme, Project Gigabit, is delivering gigabit capable connectivity for millions of rural homes.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 to help improve broadband connection in (a) West Dorset constituency and (b) other rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, over 96% of premises in the West Dorset constituency have access to superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and 53% can access a gigabit-capable (>1000 Mbps) connection.
To improve this further,Wessex Internet is delivering a £33.5 million contract under Project Gigabit, to bring gigabit-capable broadband to over 21,000 more premises across Dorset and South Somerset, including in West Dorset.
Overall, 36 Project Gigabit contracts, with a total value of over £1.9 billion, have been signed to date, to bring gigabit-capable broadband to over 1 million rural homes and businesses.