Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help ensure reliable broadband services in hard to reach areas of Surrey Heath constituency.

Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans.

As part of Project Gigabit, Openreach is delivering a contract to extend coverage to hard-to-reach areas of Surrey. This contract currently includes approximately 1,900 premises in the Surrey Heath constituency, of which almost 900 premises have already been given coverage.

We will aim to cover the remaining premises that are not currently included in Project Gigabit or suppliers’ commercial delivery plans as far as possible as funding becomes available, in line with the objective of achieving nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032.