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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress the Government has made on the roll out of superfast broadband to rural areas; and if he will make a statement.

The Superfast programme met its original objective of delivering at least 24Mbps broadband to 95% of the population in December 2017, and is now pushing beyond 96% with an ambition to reach at least 97% coverage by March 2020.

The Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme launched in May 2019 and will run until the end of March 2021. £200 million has been allocated to the Programme, from the National Productivity Investment Fund.

This is the first step of our “Outside In” approach, as outlined in the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR), to ensure that no areas are systematically left behind when it comes to the deployment of gigabit capable broadband. The FTIR estimated that around 10% of premises in the UK would need some sort of additional funding to get this connectivity.

The RGC Programme will trial a model connecting local hubs in rural areas to gigabit capable broadband, starting with primary schools. The RGC programme also has a rural gigabit broadband voucher component, offering up to £3,500 for small businesses and up to £1,500 for residents. This will be offered to encourage greater take-up of gigabit-capable connectivity to residents and businesses in rural areas.

In addition, and not specifically Superfast Broadband, I can confirm that the Local Full Fibre Networks programme is currently working with Tyne Combined Authority on a £12m bid that will deliver full fibre connectivity in Northumberland to 313 sites, improving the addressable full fibre coverage and associated productivity gains for homes and businesses.