Agenda item

Daniel Shamplin-Hall, Policy Adviser, introduced the report which set out proposals for the Board’s work programme on broadband and the digital divide over 2015/16.

In the discussion that followed Board members raised the following points:

·         Concerns were raised about whether the timescales provided by Government for Phases 1 and 2 of the Superfast Broadband Programme would be delivered on time.

·         The importance of the social and economic impact of broadband on regions was raised, especially in the context of Britain’s position in the wider world.

·         There were concerns that the Connection Voucher broadband scheme had not been focussed on rural communities.

·         The Board discussed the idea of creating a ‘speed app’ which would allow councillors to log the speed of their broadband up and down the country with the possibility of informing a wider media campaign early next year.

·         The work programme should look to explore how the BT Clawback can best be used to widen the provision of superfast broadband to the final 5%. Members also asked officers to explore the possibility of lobbying to secure superfast broadband and mobile / 5G+ infrastructure as a compulsory planning consideration.

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Decision

The Board noted the report and instructed officers to proceed in line with what was discussed.