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LGA responds to Public Accounts Committee report into Project Gigabit
Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Digital Connectivity spokesperson for the Local Government Association responded to a report by the Public Accounts Committee into the slow speed of the Government’s Project Gigabit broadband rollout programme
“Councils have a vital role to play helping to improve local communities’ connectivity. During the pandemic, communities have been reliant on having a fast and reliable broadband connection to support home working, access to services and to keep friends and family in touch.
“To help the Government reach its 2025 target, councils need more funding to support telecommunication providers to deliver improvements on the ground. The Government should empower councils to place a local digital champion in every local area to help facilitate delivery and support providers to install gigabit-capable broadband as quickly as possible.
“This will be essential to avoiding local bottlenecks and the slowing down of delivery. We are concerned there is no detailed plan in place to ensure those in the very hardest to reach areas are not left behind. A local digital champion would be a central contact point for government and broadband providers to help problem solve deployment issues in the local area.
“Tackling the digital divide will be important to levelling up in every community, ensuring everyone has the connectivity and digital skills they need to thrive.”
