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 progress of Project Gigabit in rural areas.

As of February 2024, over 1 million premises had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes. Between April 2022 and March 2023, 90% of premises benefiting from government broadband schemes were in rural areas.

To improve coverage further, we currently have 36 Project Gigabit contracts in place to bring fast, reliable broadband to over 1 million more homes and businesses, and further contracts are scheduled to be awarded in the coming months.