Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to improve communication with rural communities about Project Gigabit rollout timelines.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Suppliers are responsible for creating a network design plan and delivery schedule for their Project Gigabit contracts. Therefore, updates on delivery timescales for specific areas are often provided by suppliers through their own websites and fibre checker tools. Building Digital UK (BDUK) also works with suppliers and local councils to support communications about Project Gigabit contracts throughout their delivery.
Additionally, communities can check if their premises is included in BDUK plans using the following link: September 2025 OMR and premises in BDUK plans (England and Wales) - GOV.UK. Delivery progress can also be found via BDUK’s monthly data reporting, which shows the number of premises passed under each Project Gigabit contract. The latest edition of this data is available here: Premises contracted and built, Project Gigabit contracts - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when the Project Gigabit voucher scheme will reopen to communities in South Devon constituency.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Building Digital UK (BDUK) engaged suppliers at the end of 2025 on the potential for further Project Gigabit delivery, and several voucher suppliers expressed interest in delivering more voucher projects in South Devon. BDUK will make premises available to be covered by voucher projects where there is a prospect of viable projects being proposed by suppliers.
The scheme is due to end in March 2028 and therefore projects will need to be approved by August this year. The Government would encourage suppliers to engage directly with BDUK, if they believe there is an opportunity to develop a new project targeted at a specific area.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
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 rolling out Project Gigabit in the South West.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Through Project Gigabit we are delivering gigabit-capable connections to premises across the South West that are not expected to be reached by the commercial market alone.
Up to 31 March 2025, approximately 165,900 premises across the region have received access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection through publicly-funded broadband projects.
We remain committed to ensuring that at least 99% of UK premises are able to access a gigabit-capable connection by 2032.
Asked by: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat - South Devon)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of requiring all communications providers to issue automatic compensation for service outages.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Consumers should expect high-quality, reliable services. Operators have statutory obligations to keep services available and take all appropriate and proportionate measures to prepare for and minimise any disruption or outages.
In 2019, Ofcom - the independent regulator - worked with telecoms operators to introduce a voluntary, automatic compensation scheme for domestic broadband. 10 internet service providers are signatories to the scheme and collectively cover over 90% of home broadband consumers.
We will continue to work with Ofcom to monitor the market to ensure that consumers are receiving reliable services and recourse for when things go wrong.