Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the roll-out of superfast broadband to (a) rural areas and (b) Cornwall.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Information held by the Department does not distinguish between rural and urban areas in regards to superfast broadband coverage. Superfast broadband of at least 24 Mbps is available to over 94 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK.
According to Thinkbroadband
(http://labs.thinkbroadband.com/local/cornwall,E06000052), in Cornwall almost 90% of premises now have access to superfast broadband, up from 33% in 2011. Current contracted delivery will extend coverage by a further 3% by 2019 and Superfast Cornwall are currently beginning a further procurement process for additional superfast coverage beyond that.
For all premises that do not have superfast broadband the government will ensure universal broadband of at least 10Mbps.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase tourism in Cornwall from (a) domestic and (b) foreign visitors.
Answered by David Evennett
Our tourism industry supports millions of jobs and is one of the nation's leading employers and export earners. In 2014, the sector contributed nearly £60bn to the UK economy, and at the latest spending round the Chancellor announced a new £40m Discover England to encourage international visitors to explore beyond London. In the South West, the number of domestic visitors has increased by 14% in the 12 months to December 2015, compared with the previous year; and we have been working to promote international tourism through the £5m South West Tourism Growth Fund. Full-year data for international visitors in 2015 will be released in due course.