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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that BT co-operates with Broadband Delivery UK in rolling out superfast broadband in areas not covered by the commercial rollout.

Broadband Delivery UK are working closely with BT and other suppliers to deliver our Manifesto commitment to provide 95% of the UK with access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017. Almost 4 million homes and business now have access to superfast broadband for the first time thanks to the Superfast Broadband Programme. In addition, BT has recently announced an additional £179m of supplier funding for the programme under the contractual profit sharing arrangements. BDUK also has rigorous controls in place to ensure that all investment is in areas that will not be reached commercially for at least three years, and represents value for money.