Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many premises in Chichester constituency were included in the original Project Gigabit contract awarded to CityFibre for East and West Sussex; and how many premises are now out of scope for a fibre connection following changes to the programme.

Approximately 4,650 premises in the Chichester constituency were included in the initial scope of the Project Gigabit contract for East and West Sussex, which is being delivered by CityFibre.

Building Digital UK (BDUK) and CityFibre have since agreed not to progress with the later stages of the contract which are not yet in delivery. This is due to commercial coverage extending further than suppliers had previously indicated, meaning fewer premises now require public subsidy and therefore, the contract was redesigned to minimise overlap with commercial plans and ensure best use of public money.

Following this decision, almost all premises in Chichester have been descoped from the contract. Of the descoped premises, approximately 1,760 already have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection and around 400 are currently included in future commercial delivery plans.

As with other areas, BDUK is working to put in place alternative coverage solutions as soon as possible for the remaining premises which still require support. A market engagement consultation for suppliers was published on 1 June to confirm supplier interest in relation to the premises that still need coverage in the affected areas.