Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 13
13
We asked the Department about concerns among some of our constituents who are feeling increasingly...
Conclusion
We asked the Department about concerns among some of our constituents who are feeling increasingly left behind as a result of private sector roll-out to the more commercially viable parts of constituencies. We asked it why its planning was slipping even further despite the procurement process having been made easier for it by commercial operators accelerating their build plans very rapidly and Government’s level of ambition with regard to gigabit promoting market activity. The Department told us that people in areas where commercial operators are not going to build would not necessarily be left behind and that they would be eligible to look to use broadband vouchers.39 The voucher scheme is available for homes and businesses which the Department defines as uncommercial, and is designed to allow pockets of community coverage to be provided by commercial operators at pace for people experiencing slow broadband speeds.40 Promotion and administration of the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme is led by commercial operators.41 These commercial operators include large firms like BT Openreach and Virgin Media O2, and smaller providers, known as alternative networks or “alt-nets,” including County Broadband and CityFibre.42 32 Committee of Public Accounts Oral evidence: Improving Broadband, HC 688, 9 November 2020, Q 121 33 DCMS, Project Gigabit Delivery Plan Summer Update, August 2021, p. 10 34 DCMS, Project Gigabit Delivery Plan Autumn Update, October 2021, p. 12 35 Q15–16 36 DRB0013 DCMS recall (Broadband), Talk Talk, November 4, p.3 and DRB00014 – DCMS recall (Broadband), Gigaclear, 9 November, p. 2 37 Q 6, 12 38 Q 10 39 Q 6–7 40 Qq 27, 59, 60 41 For Suppliers – Gigabit Vouchers (culture.gov.uk) 42 Q 12, 16 and 17 Delivering gigabit-capable broadband 13 2 Addressing the barriers to roll-out Delivering legislative change
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
3.10 BDUK’s overall programme strategy and design of its interventions, including the procurement approach, balances the need to be dynamic and responsive to the market’s plans while maintaining a minimum level of certainty that suppliers will build viable networks to uncommercial areas and consequently ensure appropriate value for money. 3.11 BDUK has implemented a robust process for surveying contract areas to understand suppliers’ commercial build plans and identify the premises requiring support from BDUK to access gigabit networks. This process provides BDUK with the information required to identify whether to intervene in an area, because there are no commercial plans to build gigabit infrastructure, or to defer programme activity in that area because they may be covered by suppliers’ commercial build plans. BDUK retains the option of including premises in later delivery phases of its Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy contracts if intervention is required at a later date because suppliers’ commercial build plans change. 3.12 BDUK has streamlined its procurement process, while maintaining Public Contracting Regulations and Cabinet Office best practice. This includes establishing a Dynamic Purchasing System to pre-qualify bidders for its local supplier procurements and investing time in pre-procurement market engagement to assess the viability of proposed procurements and mitigate the risk of delays from failed procurements. 3.13 BDUK reviews its procurement approach following each round of procurements to measure their success and learn lessons to take into subsequent procurements. The first round of procurements are planned to be complete by December 2022.