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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to paragraph 1.118 in Autumn Statement 2014, what the process was by which the cities who received broadband vouchers was decided; and which cities were (a) considered and (b) rejected for those vouchers.

The 22 Super-Connected Cities were selected during 2012 in two waves (10 in wave 1 and 12 in wave 2). They were assessed on a number of criteria, based on the quality of their bids at the time and with particular focus on project governance and management.

For wave 1, 14 cities were considered and Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds and Bradford, London, Manchester and Newcastle were successful.

For wave 2, 18 cities were considered and Aberdeen, Brighton & Hove, Cambridge, Coventry, Derby, Derry/Londonderry, Newport, Oxford, Perth, Portsmouth, Salford and York were successful.