Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
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 ensure that delays to broadband rollout are minimised when a Building Digital UK contract is terminated.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Project Gigabit is designed to adapt in the event a contracted supplier can no longer complete its planned delivery, utilising a mix of contracts and interventions to enable us to continue to bring fast, reliable broadband to hard-to-reach premises across the UK. This process is intended to mitigate the potential impact of contract terminations on rural communities and to ensure that delays to the rollout of Project Gigabit are minimised.
In May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) and Full Fibre mutually agreed to terminate the Project Gigabit contract for the Peak District, which included some premises in the Derbyshire Dales constituency.
BDUK is now engaging with suppliers to review alternative options for extending coverage in this region. The coverage that can be provided, and the timescale for its delivery, will depend on what suppliers are able to offer within the public funding that can be made available, and we are keen to ensure this happens as quickly as possible.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the early termination of the Building Digital UK Full Fibre contract on rural communities in Derbyshire.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Project Gigabit is designed to adapt in the event a contracted supplier can no longer complete its planned delivery, utilising a mix of contracts and interventions to enable us to continue to bring fast, reliable broadband to hard-to-reach premises across the UK. This process is intended to mitigate the potential impact of contract terminations on rural communities and to ensure that delays to the rollout of Project Gigabit are minimised.
In May 2025, Building Digital UK (BDUK) and Full Fibre mutually agreed to terminate the Project Gigabit contract for the Peak District, which included some premises in the Derbyshire Dales constituency.
BDUK is now engaging with suppliers to review alternative options for extending coverage in this region. The coverage that can be provided, and the timescale for its delivery, will depend on what suppliers are able to offer within the public funding that can be made available, and we are keen to ensure this happens as quickly as possible.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
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 help speed up the roll out of digital infrastructure in national parks.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The rollout of broadband infrastructure in national parks is led by commercial suppliers, in discussion with the relevant National Park Authority.
Reforms to the Electronic Communications Code in 2017, alongside the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022, have created a framework which encourages network deployment.
We will continue to work with the industry to improve 4G coverage in areas of natural beauty and national parks via the Shared Rural Network (SRN). On 28 May we announced that over 50 existing mobile masts had been upgraded for the SRN, with over half of them providing new coverage to areas of outstanding natural beauty or national parks.
Alongside the SRN, our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to having the right policy and regulatory framework to support this and we continue to work with industry to deliver this.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
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 ensure (a) farmers and (b) rural communities have access to improved (i) broadband and (ii) mobile signal.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Project Gigabit is the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. This includes farms and other types of premises in rural communities.
We will also continue to work with mobile network operators to deliver the Shared Rural Network to boost 4G mobile coverage to rural communities, including farms, enabling them to thrive.
Our ambition is for all populated areas, including rural communities, to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to having the right policy and regulatory framework to support this. We continue to work with industry to deliver this.