Date: 10th May 2021
Subject: Improving Broadband for Very Hard to Reach Premises
Chair: Graham Biggs MBE, Chief Executive, Rural Services Network
Speaker: Richard Swinford, Head of Digital Infrastructure Investment, Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport
To download a copy of the learning outcomes for this meeting click here
To view the Attendance and Apologies for this meeting click here
Presentations
- Richard Swinford, DCMS
“Very Hard to Reach premises”
Download the presentation here
- Graham Biggs MBE, Rural Services network
“Revitalising Rural Campaign”
Download the presentation here
Notable Key Points
- Government have issued a consultation on Improving Broadband for Very Hard to Reach Premises.
- Consultation closes on 11 June 2021.
- Open consultation – Improving broadband for Very Hard to Reach premises
- DCMS are looking for responses from four specific groups of stakeholders and the questions asked are different for each:
- Rural Consumers
- Rural Businesses
- Suppliers / Vendors
- Representative Organisations (Rural, Business, etc)
- The Government is seeking information on Demand, Benefits, Barriers and Approaches. The information will be used to inform policy development.
- There is a fully accessible PDF version and a lightweight PDF for people who are on slow broadband connections as a much lighter file to download. There is an HTML version, which is fully browsable from mobile devices.
- DCMS are only seeking responses through the online questionnaire and several delegates raised the point that those without broadband may be unaware of the call for evidence, or unable to respond. DCMS would encourage those to work with a representative organisation to provide their response to them.
- DCMS already have a model of every premise in the UK and the service delivered and its capability, what they want from this call for evidence, is information about the implications of not having that connectivity and being able to quantify the impact of those implications.
Key Points Raised by Delegates
- Concern over nonresponses from areas where there is no connectivity currently.
- Should Parish Councils be contacted as part of the Inquiry to share the information? DCMS stated that they are engaging with key stakeholders, DEFRA and the NFU. The RSN has published the Call for Evidence in the Rural Bulletin and will also share on social media to our membership.
- Technical questions on how to respond to the survey based on organisation type.
Attendance and Apologies
Attendance:
|
Full Name |
Organisation |
|
Bethan Aldridge |
Rural Services Network |
|
Ashley Barnes |
Durham County Council |
|
Graham Biggs MBE |
Rural Services Network |
|
Hayden Bird |
YMCA Lincolnshire |
|
Kerry Booth |
Rural Services Network |
|
Chris Borg |
NALC |
|
Tracey Brockman |
South Cambridgeshire District Council |
|
Tony Brown |
Northumberland County Council |
|
Alex Buckley |
Cheshire East Council |
|
Cllr Stephen Bunney |
West Lindsey District Council |
|
Jamie Campbell |
Rural Design Centre |
|
Cllr Mark Canniford |
North Somerset Council |
|
Jay Chapman |
Cornwall Rural Community Charity |
|
Ceren Clulow |
Nottinghamshire County Council |
|
Amy Cobbett |
NFU |
|
Beccy Coombs |
Babergh & Mid Suffolk District Council |
|
Cllr Sue Cooper |
South Oxfordshire District Council |
|
Julian Cowans |
Superfast Cornwall/Cornwall Council |
|
Gill Cowell |
Northumberland County Council |
|
Paul Cowie |
National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise |
|
Jane Crisp |
South East Water |
|
Isabel De Veer |
Harborough District Council |
|
Jane Deville |
University of Lincoln |
|
Nick Devitt |
Rural Design Centre |
|
Paul Dixon |
ACRE |
|
Nicola Doble |
South Somerset District Council |
|
Katie Duke |
DCMS |
|
Cllr Kevin Dukes |
Bassetlaw District Council |
|
Georgina Edwards |
Plunkett Foundation |
|
Phil Eke |
Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk |
|
Matthew Garrard |
Lincolnshire County Council |
|
Andrew Globe |
Derbyshire County Council |
|
Cllr Richard Good |
Richmondshire District Council |
|
Freda Grant |
East Sussex County Council |
|
Cllr Roger Habgood |
Somerset West and Taunton Council |
|
Cllr Tim Hamilton-Cox |
Lancaster City Council |
|
Helen Harris |
Leicestershire County Council |
|
Cllr Michael Harris |
New Forest District Council |
|
Lizzi Hearn |
CPRE, the countryside charity |
|
Cllr Edward Heron |
Hampshire County Council |
|
Steve Howdle |
East Riding of Yorkshire Council |
|
Nick Hubbard |
Citizens Advice Rural Issues Group |
|
David Hutchinson |
Durham County Council |
|
David Inman |
Rural Services Network |
|
Paul James |
Cotswold District Council |
|
Tom Jenkins |
Ashford Borough Council |
|
Paul Jenkins-Green |
South Cambridgeshire District Council |
|
Cllr Peter Jinman |
Herefordshire Council |
|
Cllr Neil Jory |
West Devon Borough Council |
|
Kirstie Kalonji |
Alzheimer’s Society |
|
Joanne Kerrison |
South Norfolk & Broadland District Council |
|
Carl Knight |
West Lindsey District Council |
|
Sarah Lee |
Countryside Alliance |
|
Robert Ling |
North Yorkshire County Council |
|
Nancy Maitland |
Derbyshire Dales District Council |
|
Toby Matthews |
Norfolk County Council |
|
Jane Morgan |
Cornwall Rural Community Charity |
|
Cllr Julie Najuk |
Gedling Borough Council |
|
Jim Orwin |
East Riding of Yorkshire Council |
|
Jonathan Percival |
Lichfield District Council |
|
David Platts |
Stratford on Avon District Council |
|
Sylvia Pringle |
Northumberland County Council |
|
Maria Ramshaw |
Melton Borough Council |
|
Dr Malcolm Rigler |
The Sound Agents – Liverpool |
|
Ian Sherriff |
University of Plymouth |
|
Robert Stepniewski |
Worcestershire County Council |
|
Cllr Peter Stevens |
West Suffolk Council |
|
Richard Swinford |
DCMS |
|
Cllr Virginia Taylor |
Eden District Council |
|
Alastair Taylor |
North Yorkshire County Council/NY Net |
|
Chris Taylor |
Shropshire Council |
|
Sasha Taylor |
Worcestershire County Council |
|
Cllr Peter Thornton |
Cumbria County Council |
|
Cllr John Toye |
North Norfolk District Council |
|
Nadine Trout |
Rural Services Network |
|
Cllr Sue Tucker |
Scarborough Borough Council |
|
Alli Walker |
Durham County Council |
|
Joe Walsh |
South Somerset District Council |
|
Catherine Weldon |
Cumbria County Council |
|
Richard Woolley |
Connexus |
Apologies:
|
Full Name |
Organisation |
|
Louise Allen |
Durham County Council |
|
Chris Ashman |
Isle of Wight Council |
|
Cllr Philip Atkins |
Staffordshire County Council |
|
Mark Balchin |
Hastoe Group |
|
Paula Batchelor |
YMCA Lincolnshire |
|
Toffer Beattie |
South Somerset District Council |
|
Ursula Bennion |
Trent & Dove Housing |
|
Jane Berni |
YMCA Lincolnshire |
|
Stephen Brookes |
Lincolnshire County Council |
|
Ian Cass |
The Forum of British Pubs |
|
Cllr Richard Cheadle |
West Devon Borough Council |
|
Kevin Chorley |
Sedgemoor District Council |
|
Steve Cunnigham |
Norfolk County Council |
|
Alistair Flowerdew |
Isle of Wight NHS Trust |
|
Jan Gamon |
South Somerset District Council |
|
Jonathan Harris |
Cumbria County Council |
|
Nik Harwood |
Young Somerset |
|
Cllr Linda Haysey |
East Herts District Council |
|
Cllr Robert Heseltine |
North Yorkshire County Council |
|
Claire Holt |
Durham County council |
|
Linda Howells |
Uttlesford District Council |
|
Dan Janota |
Dartmoor National Park Authority |
|
Kirstie Kalonji |
Alzheimer’s Society |
|
Cllr Phil King |
Harborough District Council |
|
Jackie King |
Tandridge District Council |
|
Guy McQueen |
Lewes District & Eastbourne Borough Councils |
|
Adele Metcalfe |
Peak District National Park Authority |
|
Cllr Cecilia Motley |
Rural Services Network/ Shropshire Council |
|
Denis Murphy |
Advance Northumberland |
|
Sarah Naylor |
North Northamptonshire Council |
|
John Noakes |
Warwickshire County Council |
|
Brian Norris |
Living Memories C.I.C. |
|
David O’Leary |
The Rural Design Centre |
|
Amanda Phillips |
United Utilities |
|
Cllr Ken Pollock |
Worcestershire County Council |
|
Cllr Susan Prochak |
Rother District Council |
|
Louise Richardson |
Leicestershire County Council |
|
Philip Roberts |
Devon County Council |
|
Cllr Jeremy Savage |
South Norfolk Council |
|
Cllr Richard Sherras |
Ribble Valley Borough Council |
|
Martha Shields |
Eden Housing Association |
|
Sarah Thomas |
National Federation of Women’s Institutes |
|
Cllr Angie Fitch-Tillett |
North Norfolk District Council |
|
Lewis Walsh |
South Somerset District Council |
