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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the announcement on 30 October 2014 of free wifi in public buildings, by what procedure the list of buildings was decided; what criteria were used to select those buildings; what representations he received from local government and businesses in Glasgow, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield and Bristol; how the cost will be funded; how much of that funding is from the Super Connected Cities budget; and what funds local authorities are contributing.

The Super Connected Cities Programme is funding the implementation of Wi-Fi in Public Buildings in many of the 22 Super Connected Cities. The cities chose whether to run Wi-Fi projects and which public buildings should be included. Participating cities run the procurement and contracting process themselves. Some cities, such as Newcastle, are in the process of appointing a contractor. Others, such as Bristol, chose to allocate their Super Connected Cities allocations to other projects. The cities take responsibility for ongoing management of the Wi-Fi services and running costs. We have not received any representations from Glasgow, Nottingham and Sheffield regarding provision of Wi-Fi services.