Agenda item

A presentation by Lincolnshire County Council.

The Strategic Director (Mr Turner) introduced a presentation from Lincolnshire County Council on the provision of broadband in rural areas. He highlighted that the availability of broadband could inhibit economic growth. These concerns were echoed across the county, which had one of the lowest signal strengths in the country. The Communities Policy Development Group had worked to keep the issue high on the Council’s agenda. The limitations of broadband in rural areas were also recognized on a national level; the government aimed that the UK had Europe’s best superfast broadband by 2015 and had made funding available to achieve this. Broadband Delivery UK was responsible for delivering this on behalf of the government and allocating funding. Upper tier authorities were invited to bid for funding, and Lincolnshire County Council, supported by South Kesteven District Council, submitted a bid that had been successful. Jenny Gammon, Lincolnshire County Council’s Assistant Director for Economy and Culture, had been invited to the meeting to explain more about the project.

Ms Gammon explained that the government had ring-fenced £530m (for the whole of the UK) to deliver superfast broadband to 90% premises by 2015, with all premises having a minimum of 2mb. The main way of achieving this was investing in fibre optic cables. Maps showed those areas of the county that did and did not have 2mb. Some areas, including Grantham, were serviced by the cable network. The County Council was preparing a business plan to combine and develop public sector funding and implementation proposals. It would then go to the market to procure necessary services and support.

A bid was submitted to BDUK in July 2011; funding of £14m was allocated to the county. Lincolnshire County Council had agreed in principle to contribute £10m towards the project, however additional match-funding was required. Approaches had been made to other public sector organizations in the county, including the health service and district councils. The County Council was also hoping to secure funding from the European Regional Development Fund. However, current restrictions meant that funding could not be used for broadband; lobbying was being undertaken to change this.

The public sector was only allowed to intervene in areas of market failure. This meant funding could only be used in areas where broadband was not available.

Lincolnshire’s rural nature and settlement patterns made the county unappealing to providers. The County Council’s aim was to get superfast broadband to as many places as possible as quickly as possible. This process included raising awareness and demonstrating the level of support in the county. The website www.onlincolsnshire.org was set up, through which communities in Lincolnshire were being encouraged to register their interest.

Local broadband availability was put in a national context. Across the UK, 9% of premises did not have 2mb, while in South Kesteven 17% of premises did not have 2mb. To progress work in Lincolnshire, the County Council was working with BDUK to agree their plan. Expertise would then need securing from industry and approaches would be made to suppliers. It was anticipated the main rollout would take place between 2012-13.

Ms Gammon stated that website, which contained lots of information, had received a lot of promotion through SK Today and parish councils. There were three ways in which people could register their support: visiting to the website from private PCs or public network computers in libraries, or through Lincolnshire County Council’s switchboard.

The Chairman invited questions from Councillors. Members recognized the importance of a good broadband network for economic development and asked about building broadband infrastructure into development proposals. Ms Gammon explained that broadband was considered part of essential infrastructure. Grantham was covered within Virgin’s network, while Stamford and Market Deeping benefitted from recent investment from BT. Some concern was expressed this investment, which made them ineligible for investment with funding from BDUK, would disadvantage communities living in those areas. The County Council was working with a variety of partners to ensure the best possible outcome for communities across Lincolnshire.

In response to a question about the options that were being explored in respect of service providers, Ms Gammon confirmed the County Council was working with national and local companies. The County Council had to find the right balance between giving as many premises access to superfast broadband, while ensuring the remainder of premises had a 2mb speed. In some areas this could be delivered through local solutions provided by local companies.

Responding to questions about achieving minimum speeds of 2mb and whether relay technology was able to sufficiently boost the signal between the exchange and point of delivery, Ms Gammon explained that limitations were caused by copper cables. Investing in fibre optic cables would ensure high speeds from the exchange to the user, however this would be expensive because the whole copper network would need replacing.

The Chairman thanked Ms Gammon for her presentation and answering Councillors’ questions.

14:53-15:10         The meeting adjourned.

Following the adjournment, Councillors Auger, Bryant, Dilks, Nalson, Parkin, Rowlands and Jacky Smith did not re-enter the meeting, having declared personal and prejudicial interests in agenda item 8.