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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks made by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 25 February, what proportion of the costs of meeting the target on the expansion of broadband in Scotland by the end of 2017 will be met by the Government; and how much it is expected to cost.

The Scottish Government estimate the total capital cost for the current Scotland projects under phase 1 of the Superfast Broadband Programme will be £412 million. The UK Government is contributing nearly £101 million, the Scottish Government will contribute nearly £63 million, Scottish local authorities will contribute over £102 million and the European Union over £20 million towards the total. The balance of just over £126 million is expected to be contributed by the supplier BT.

The UK Government has allocated a further £21 million for phase 2 delivery within Scotland. This funding is subject to procurement and confirmation of local match funding.