Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
The Department told us that it wanted to have very clear objectives and to be...
Conclusion
The Department told us that it wanted to have very clear objectives and to be clear about the benefits for the subsidised part of its gigabit programme but could offer no further detail on how it intends to design and conduct the evaluation of that programme.40 The 31 C&AG’s Report, paras 3.11–12 32 Qq 126, 146–147 33 IBB0003 - Local Government Association 34 Qq 127–132 35 C&AG’s Report, para 3.12 36 Qq 133–136 37 C&AG’s Report, para 13 38 Q 81 39 Q 81 40 Qq 153, 156 12 Improving Broadband Department has, once again, set nationwide coverage targets for its gigabit programme; originally 100% and now 85%,41 and the Department is once again relying on industry to deliver most of it; in this case to 80% of UK premises.42 As yet, it has published no targets specific to its £5 billion subsidy programme such as the number of premises it aims to cover by when. The Department acknowledged that it was better to have control over all the levers but said that it had demonstrated its ability to have influence over the market when it achieved the nationwide target for superfast broadband.43 The Department told us that relying on commercial roll-out does not necessarily mean that they cannot achieve these kinds of targets.44
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2021 4.2 The department continues to deliver to areas of greatest need and committed the first £4.5million from the new programme to upgrade sub-superfast premises in Scotland. 4.3 On 22 December 2020, the department published a description of its targeting approach for its new procurements, which will continue to prioritise sub-superfast premises, in the Planning for Gigabit Delivery consultation. The department commits to publishing progress against the UK Gigabit Programme’s milestones regularly. 4.4 The department is committed to incorporating lessons from its delivery of the Superfast Broadband Programme. It commissioned two independent evaluations of the Superfast Broadband Programme, the most recent of which included interviews with 40 local authorities and 16 suppliers. The results from this evaluation were published on 29 January 2021. This evidence, as well as BDUK’s own analysis, has also informed the design of the UK Gigabit Programme. 4.5 The department has also consulted local authorities and suppliers on their own experiences and sought their feedback on emerging and iterating programme design through regular stakeholder engagement events. 4.6 Examples of the improvements from Superfast Broadband Programme include the department centralising and automating a process for suppliers to regularly share their latest build plans, ready to inform targeting decisions for future procurements. Additionally, the department is extending the clawback period in the new contracts to 15 years to reflect the longer asset life of gigabit networks and incorporating a one- off recovery after seven years to bring forward the anticipated future value of clawback for the remaining eight years.