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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to improve broadband connections in (a) Morley and Outwood constituency and (b) West Yorkshire.

According to the independent website www.thinkbroadband.com gigabit broadband coverage in Morley and Outwood is 84.8%, which is above the national average of 71.5%. Over 98.7% of premises in Morley and Outwood have access to Superfast broadband with speeds of at least 30 Mbps, which is also above the national average of 97.3%.

We are investing £5 billion through Project Gigabit so homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas that would not otherwise be reached through suppliers’ commercial plans can access gigabit broadband. Morley and Outwood is included in Project Gigabit’s regional procurement for West Yorkshire and parts of North Yorkshire.

We are making good progress with this procurement, which will launch early next year. We have recently conducted market engagement to assess interest in the area from various suppliers, and identify where government subsidy is required.

Eligible homes and businesses may also be able to benefit from the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which provides a subsidy of up to £1,500 for residents and up to £3,500 for businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband. Constituents in Morley and Outwood have made good use of the scheme to date, with 60 vouchers, worth over £140,000, used to connect premises to date.