Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department plans to take in response to the recent ruling by Ofcom on the separation of BT and its Openreach division to support community groups to upgrade broadband connections in their local areas.

Ofcom has now announced how it plans to implement its recommendations for the relationship between BT Group and Openreach. We are clear that a more independent Openreach is needed to benefit consumers and the UK’s digital infrastructure. We welcome Ofcom’s determination to tackle these issues, to give certainty to consumers, industry and investors in the UK’s broadband infrastructure to improve service and the level of investment.

DCMS has published guidance on its website for community groups who are interested in implementing community-led broadband solutions at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-led-broadband-schemes/introduction-to-community-led-schemes. BDUK also provides subsidies for upgrades in broadband connectivity for any premises that only have access to speeds of less than 2Mbps. This will continue throughout 2017 and will not be affected by Ofcom's recent announcement.