Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help connect rural communities in Lancashire to broadband.

The Government is committed to improving broadband coverage in rural areas, with gigabit broadband coverage delivered through the £5 billion Project Gigabit. Alternative connectivity solutions are being investigated for very hard to reach premises.

According to the independent website thinkbroadband.com, 98% of premises in Lancashire have access to a superfast broadband connection, while 88% of premises can access a gigabit-capable connection. To further extend gigabit-capable coverage, Lancashire is included in Project Gigabit’s cross regional framework tender, launched in July 2023. We expect to announce this contract in the summer.

Less than 1% of premises are unable to access a decent broadband connection of 10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload and may be able to get an improved connection through the Broadband USO, which gives consumers the right to request a decent broadband connection if their current connection falls below these speeds.