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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans are in place to improve access to broadband services in Dumfries and Galloway constituency.

The current Phase 1 superfast broadband project covering the 'Rest of Scotland' (excluding the Highlands & Islands) had provided superfast broadband coverage to 500,000 premises by the end of June 2017 and this is scheduled to increase to 572,000 by the end of the contract in December 2018. Superfast coverage for Dumfries and Galloway is expected to reach approximately 82% of premises as a result. Further superfast broadband delivery in Dumfries and Galloway is dependent on the Scottish Government procuring a second broadband contract. The government allocated £20.99 million to support a second contract in February 2014, but the Scottish Government has yet to begin a procurement, and will be the last area in the UK to do so.

For premises not covered by superfast broadband, the UK government will ensure universal broadband coverage of at least 10Mbps.