Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the economic impact of delays in the Project Gigabit Lot 4 procurement process on households in the North East of England.

The supplier that was awarded the Project Gigabit contract for the North East (Lot 4) was unable to proceed after failing to secure the funding it required.

To maintain the delivery of gigabit coverage to premises in the North East, we have worked with suppliers to bring forward additional projects under the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The remaining premises will be included in a call-off under our cross-regional framework, which we aim to have in place this summer. We will press the successful supplier to begin to build premises in the North East as soon as possible to minimise any delay. Consequently, the economic impacts of this change in approach will be kept as low as possible.