Agenda item

To approve the revised Fastershire Broadband Strategy 2019 – 2022.

Cllr Patrick Molyneux, Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills, gave an update on the Fastershire Broadband Strategy and the future deployment of high speed broadband for Gloucestershire and Herefordshire to 2022.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

1. Approve the revised Fastershire Broadband Strategy 2019 – 2022;

2. Delegate authority to the Lead Commissioner – Strategic Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills to:

2.1 Approve the approach and criteria under Stage 5 of the revised Strategy, to establish a Fastershire Community Broadband Grant, that will be delivered via a new Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) and;

2.2 Conduct a competitive procurement process for Community Broadband grants based on the criteria set out in 2.1 and award such contract (s) in accordance with the Dynamic Purchasing System established through the joint Partnership Agreement between Gloucestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council.

Cllr Patrick Molyneux, Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills, gave an update on the Fastershire Broadband Strategy and the future deployment of high speed broadband for Gloucestershire and Herefordshire to 2022.

He informed members that the GCC Fastershire Project had been operating in conjunction with Herefordshire for 8 years, and over this time, over £30m of public subsidy had been invested in high speed broadband across the county, including locations where the market had previously failed to deliver. The programme provided gap funding to attract commercial providers, including BT, Gigaclear and Airband to invest.

Cllr Molyneux stated that the project had been very successful and had been recognised several times for being a ‘trailblazer’ nationally, (most recently by INCA as the organisation that had made the greatest public sector impact on the provision of broadband). By the end of completion of the current contracts, Gloucestershire’s broadband coverage was anticipated to be 97.8%, enabling 324,386 properties.

The current Strategy would need to be rolled forward and updated to reflect emerging future Government Policies on Digital Connectivity. The Fastershire team had recently met with the Leader, Cabinet Member and Chief Executive, seeking guidance on the future approach of the revised Strategy and delivery plans for further investment in broadband infrastructure, where it had been agreed that the county council would continue with the current Joint partnership arrangements with Herefordshire for the next two years. This would enable delivery of the current full fibre contracts, and use the remaining GCC capital funds to concentrate on the remaining 2.5% locations still to be enabled with faster broadband.

In terms of delivery, the revised strategy would focus heavily on continuing to work with commercial providers to support delivery of full fibre in the major towns, as well as establishing the new community broadband grant targeted at around 7,000 properties currently not in line to be upgraded as part of the existing contracts.

A new Dynamic Purchasing System would be established to enable the team to award Community Broadband Grants. Cllr Molyneux advised that there was likely to be a good level of demand from those areas yet to be enabled and achieve full fibre connectivity, and any efforts by the Authority to improve the potential coverage and connectivity in those areas would be welcomed by the local communities.

Cllr Molyneux clarified that Digital Connectivity and full fibre roll out remained a Government priority, and that he hoped the final phase of the project would be as successful as previous phases. He confirmed that the county council aimed to continue with investment in delivering faster broadband to more homes and businesses in order to achieve the Fastershire Strategy Vision of ‘enabling all residents and businesses in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire to access the connectivity they need and encourage people to use faster broadband to do more online, boost business growth and achieve their potential’.