Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress her Department has made on delivering fast and reliable broadband in (a) Bosworth constituency and (b) Leicestershire.

In January 2019, only 0.2% of premises in the Bosworth constituency had access to fast, reliable gigabit-capable broadband (speeds over over 1,000Mbps). That figure has leapt to over 67% today. During the same period, gigabit-capable coverage across Leicestershire has risen from 1.7% to over 70% today.

We are committed to increasing this coverage further through Project Gigabit, the Government’s £5 billion mission to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband across the UK. As part of this, we have begun launching procurements that give subsidies to broadband suppliers to build gigabit-capable infrastructure to premises that will not be reached by suppliers’ commercial plans alone.

Up to 2,900 premises in the Bosworth constituency are likely to be included in our Leicestershire and Warwickshire procurement, which is expected to launch in the coming weeks.

The Bosworth constituency has also made good use of our Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which provides a subsidy of up to £4,500 for residents and businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband. More than 50 premises in the constituency have claimed and received payment for a voucher through the scheme, with a value of almost £85,000.

Alongside this, Leicestershire County Council is delivering a GigaHubs project, funded by Building Digital UK, which includes 12 sites in the Bosworth constituency. The sites will act as hubs bringing gigabit-capable broadband into the heart of hard-to-reach communities for the first time, making it more commercially attractive for suppliers to deliver gigabit connectivity to the surrounding communities.