Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the progress of the Project Gigabit rollout in North Shropshire constituency since 1 January 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As part of Project Gigabit, Freedom Fibre was awarded a contract to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises in North Shropshire that were not expected to be reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout.
As of 1 May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) had received reports from the supplier confirming the delivery for 845 premises under this contract in the North Shropshire constituency.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many properties had been connected to full fibre under the North Shropshire Project Gigabit contract on 1 May 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As part of Project Gigabit, Freedom Fibre was awarded a contract to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to premises in North Shropshire that were not expected to be reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout.
As of 1 May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) had received reports from the supplier confirming the delivery for 845 premises under this contract in the North Shropshire constituency.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made and assessment of the suitability of Freedom Fibre to deliver the Project Gigabit contract in North Shropshire constituency since the termination of Freedom Fibre’s Project Gigabit contract for Cheshire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Project Gigabit contract for North Shropshire was awarded following a procurement which was compliant with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Officials in Building Digital UK (BDUK) meet regularly with Freedom Fibre to oversee its delivery of this contract.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Freedom Fibre on Project Gigabit contracts since 1 January 1 2025; and whether he will publish the minutes of those meetings.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As the executive agency responsible for delivering Project Gigabit, Building Digital UK (BDUK) holds regular meetings with suppliers, including Freedom Fibre, to discuss their progress with delivery of their Project Gigabit contracts. Ministers have had no such meetings with Freedom Fibre since 1 January 2025.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UKRI funding in helping innovative projects scale-up.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Criteria assessing the impact and effectiveness of UKRI funding to support scale-up of innovative projects are consistently tracked through the UKRI Commercialisation Monitoring Framework, as well as Innovate UK’s Impact Management Framework.
All evaluations are published on UKRI’s website and are used to inform future approach and investments.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Healthy Ageing Challenge in helping companies scale up projects.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
An independent evaluation of the Healthy Ageing Challenge has been published on UKRI’s website. The evaluation found that the Challenge has:
The medium- to long-term outcomes are likely to be achieved over the next 3 to 5 years.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the value for money of the Shared Rural Network.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
To deliver the Shared Rural Network, the UK’s four mobile network operators are investing £532m to eliminate the majority of ‘partial not-spots’ – areas which receive coverage from at least one, but not all, operators. The programme has already delivered substantial improvements for rural communities across the UK, with Ofcom reporting that 4G coverage from at least one operator now stands at over 93%, up from 91% when the programme started.
The government’s grant funding to upgrade Extended Area Service masts and tackle ‘total not spots’ is capped to prevent overspend. Building Digital UK is working with its delivery partners, including the Home Office, to ensure that maximal benefit can be achieved within the allotted programme funding and that the programme represents good value for money.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the overspend of the Shared Rural Network project will be paid from the public purse.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
To deliver the Shared Rural Network, the UK’s four mobile network operators are investing £532m to eliminate the majority of ‘partial not-spots’ – areas which receive coverage from at least one, but not all, operators. The programme has already delivered substantial improvements for rural communities across the UK, with Ofcom reporting that 4G coverage from at least one operator now stands at over 93%, up from 91% when the programme started.
The government’s grant funding to upgrade Extended Area Service masts and tackle ‘total not spots’ is capped to prevent overspend. Building Digital UK is working with its delivery partners, including the Home Office, to ensure that maximal benefit can be achieved within the allotted programme funding and that the programme represents good value for money.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 improve mobile signal for (a) farmers and (b) rural businesses.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Shared Rural Network will bring 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK landmass. Ofcom assesses the mobile network operators progress against their individual coverage targets. Ofcom reports that 4G coverage from at least one operator currently stands at over 93%, up from 91% when the programme started.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of progress made on the Shared Rural Network.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Shared Rural Network will bring 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK landmass. Ofcom assesses the mobile network operators progress against their individual coverage targets. Ofcom reports that 4G coverage from at least one operator currently stands at over 93%, up from 91% when the programme started.