Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure broadband providers treat residents equitably when determining property eligibility during fibre rollout programmes in Surrey Heath constituency.

Openreach is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across Surrey, targeted at bringing gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas, including approximately 1,900 premises in the Surrey Heath constituency.

As with all Project Gigabit contracts, Building Digital UK (BDUK) collected and analysed information from commercial suppliers about their completed and planned broadband infrastructure in order to identify which premises in Surrey required public subsidy to receive a gigabit-capable connection.

Our Project Gigabit contracts, including the contract for Surrey, target premises which would not normally be commercially viable for suppliers to connect.