Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of rural broadband coverage.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Rural broadband coverage is not good enough. We are delivering nationwide gigabit broadband, through Project Gigabit.
Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, 89% of premises benefitting from government broadband schemes were in rural areas.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress his Department has made on procuring a new supplier to deliver Project Gigabit connections in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Project Gigabit is designed to adapt in the event that a contracted supplier can no longer complete its planned delivery, utilising a mix of contracts and interventions to enable us to continue to bring fast, reliable broadband to hard-to-reach premises across the UK.
In North Shropshire, Building Digital UK (BDUK) will be seeking to agree the extent to which Openreach may be able to extend its network to reach premises that require support from Project Gigabit.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 Project Gigabit procurement process for (a) north Shropshire, (b) mid west Shropshire, (c) Cheshire, (d) west Herefordshire (e) Forest of Dean and (f) the Peak District.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All Project Gigabit contracts in all areas are awarded following a transparent, fair and robust procurement process, during which suppliers are required to prove they have the capability and capacity to meet their obligations.
If this subsequently changes, suppliers are required to inform Building Digital UK, so that the delivery of Project Gigabit can be adapted accordingly.
This is not always a simple process, as commercial operators’ plans and capacity vary, but the scheme is flexible.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps to expedite the delivery of gigabit broadband to premises due to be covered by the Project Gigabit contract awarded to Freedom Fibre for north Shropshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Project Gigabit is designed to adapt if and when a contracted supplier can no longer complete its planned delivery.
Building Digital UK (BDUK) is already working to put in place alternative solutions for premises in North Shropshire that require support from Project Gigabit. This is likely to involve the cross-regional contract with Openreach.
BDUK will provide further information as these solutions develop over the next few months.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 progress of the Project Gigabit rollout in North Shropshire constituency since 1 January 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As part of Project Gigabit, Freedom Fibre was awarded a contract to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises in North Shropshire that were not expected to be reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout.
As of 1 May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) had received reports from the supplier confirming the delivery for 845 premises under this contract in the North Shropshire constituency.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many properties had been connected to full fibre under the North Shropshire Project Gigabit contract on 1 May 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As part of Project Gigabit, Freedom Fibre was awarded a contract to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises in North Shropshire that were not expected to be reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout.
As of 1 May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) had received reports from the supplier confirming the delivery for 845 premises under this contract in the North Shropshire constituency.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made and assessment of the suitability of Freedom Fibre to deliver the Project Gigabit contract in North Shropshire constituency since the termination of Freedom Fibre’s Project Gigabit contract for Cheshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Project Gigabit contract for North Shropshire was awarded following a procurement which was compliant with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Officials in Building Digital UK (BDUK) meet regularly with Freedom Fibre to oversee its delivery of this contract.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Freedom Fibre on Project Gigabit contracts since 1 January 1 2025; and whether he will publish the minutes of those meetings.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As the executive agency responsible for delivering Project Gigabit, Building Digital UK (BDUK) holds regular meetings with suppliers, including Freedom Fibre, to discuss their progress with delivery of their Project Gigabit contracts. Ministers have had no such meetings with Freedom Fibre since 1 January 2025.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 effectiveness of UKRI funding in helping innovative projects scale-up.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Criteria assessing the impact and effectiveness of UKRI funding to support scale-up of innovative projects are consistently tracked through the UKRI Commercialisation Monitoring Framework, as well as Innovate UK’s Impact Management Framework.
All evaluations are published on UKRI’s website and are used to inform future approach and investments.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 effectiveness of the Healthy Ageing Challenge in helping companies scale up projects.
Answered by Feryal Clark
An independent evaluation of the Healthy Ageing Challenge has been published on UKRI’s website. The evaluation found that the Challenge has:
The medium- to long-term outcomes are likely to be achieved over the next 3 to 5 years.