Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the proposed National Planning Policy Framework will enable councils to require fibre to home broadband to be installed on new developments.

The draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published for consultation on 5 March 2018. The framework proposes that councils should put forward planning policies setting out how high quality digital infrastructure is expected to be delivered and upgraded over time, prioritising full fibre connections to existing and new developments. If this is taken forward as part of the finalised NPPF, it will be for councils to determine the scope of their policies.