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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many rural communities have launched their own initiatives to install fibre networks as a result of commercial and government programmes being unable to reach their premises.

Broadband Delivery UK has recently published information and guidance for communities on implementing their own community projects, with examples of schemes that it is aware of (available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-led-broadband-schemes). There are also other examples of community broadband support such as Community Broadband Scotland, which gives specific support to community projects in Scotland. The government does not, however, hold information on all community schemes in the UK.