Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
Thirty-Fifth Report - Supporting mobile connectivity
Published 28 May 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Supporting mobile connectivity All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Department’s business case for the Shared Rural Network programme did not confirm which specific geographical areas would benefit from better coverage as a result of the programme and which would not.29 We therefore asked if the Department now knew which specific geographical areas would have lower coverage after the programme ended. The Department replied that it had a broad idea, based on the data in Ofcom’s latest 23 Q 38 24 Qq 7, 11, 12 25 Q 11 26 Q 11 27 Qq 12, 18 28 Qq 40, 41 29 C&AG’s Report, para 2.13 Supporting mobile connectivity 13 Connected Nations report and the programme’s plans for installing masts. However, it would not know the exact areas until the plans were implemented and there was still some uncertainty over the number of masts that would be delivered under the programme.30
From: Public Accounts Committee, Thirty-Fifth Report - Supporting mobile connectivity (HC 650), 28 May 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 11 July 2025 (deadline 28 July 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the seven recommendations in the report, giving target implementation dates between December 2024 and January 2027.
- On cost certainty, the government says the grant structure "moves the majority of the financial risk for delivery outside government" and that a capped fund for the Total Not Spot element means its contribution "cannot exceed £300.7 million".
- On areas left without 4G, the government says it "is not possible to predict with a high degree of certainty" which areas these will be at this stage; identification will be undertaken "upon completion of the site acquisition phase". Target date: January 2027.
- On coverage data, the department "will ask that Ofcom examines any cases where areas have lost all mobile connectivity following 3G switch off" and will work with Ofcom to "consider other ways that consumers can report gaps in coverage". Target date: January 2025.
- On 5G, the government says standalone 5G is commercially funded "with no government subsidy", and that it will provide an evaluation of the Open Networks Programme and 5G Innovation Regions "following their conclusion in 2025".