Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the number of households without home internet access in Wiltshire; and what recent estimate his Department has made of levels of digital exclusion in (a) Wiltshire and (b) Chippenham constituency.
According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2025 Spring Update, in the Wiltshire local authority area, 104 premises had no mobile, fixed or wireless internet service provider coverage and in the Chippenham constituency, 14 premises. And through Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, we are continuing to deliver broadband and mobile connectivity to hard-to-reach areas with limited or no coverage.
Ofcom survey data shows that around 5% of households nationally do not have at home internet access, we do not have a more local breakdown of this figure.
The Government published its Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025, which outlines the first five actions we are taking over the next year to boost digital inclusion across the UK.