Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what evaluation measures the Government plans to put in place for the superfast broadband roll-out.

The Department is currently undertaking evaluation of the Superfast Broadband Programme’s role in improving broadband connectivity and reaching areas that would otherwise not have been reached through commercial plans. The evaluation is focusing on the economic and social impacts of the programme, including the impact of the superfast programme on business performance and growth, employment, on quality of life and the reduction in benefits claimants in areas that would have lost out to higher connectivity areas, if it were not for the programme.

The Department released The UK Broadband Impact Study in 2013 which made an assessment of the impacts of faster broadband including the economic impacts. The study can be accessed on the Department's website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-broadband-impact-study--2). The Department will be producing results from the current evaluation in 2018.