Minutes:
*O&S 7
The Chairman introduced representatives from Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) and Airband to the meeting. In addition, the Chairman also welcomed the lead Devon County Council lead Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills to the meeting.
In their respective presentations, the representatives made particular reference to:-
- the main achievements of the Programme. The representatives highlighted that the deployment of Phase 1 of the Programme was now completed and had exceeded targets. For example, this Phase had seen over 300,000 Superfast Connections to homes and businesses;
- a summary of the West Devon Borough area. Of the 27,924 homes or businesses in the area, there remained 2,378 that had still not had delivered (or planned to be delivered) Superfast Connectivity;
- take up in Phase 1 being at around 70% in the Borough area, which was higher than the national rural programme average;
- the number of Community Engagement events that had been attended by CDS representatives;
- additional coverage and funding opportunities via:
o the rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme / Community Challenge Programme;
o Gainshare;
o National Fibre Programme; and
o Commercial Operator plans;
- the Airband Programme running to December 2021 and currently remaining on schedule; and
- Airband being in receipt of nearly 25% of the total nationwide Gigabit Voucher Scheme.
During the subsequent debate, the following points were raised:
(a) Whilst welcoming the progress that was being made in respect of Superfast provision, the meeting acknowledged that this was of scant consolation to those 2,378 homes or businesses in the area that were currently not planned to be in receipt of such Connectivity. In reply, the representatives informed that they were committed to doing all that they could for these homes and businesses;
(b) When questioned, Members were informed that there were different means of measuring performance. However, it was widely acknowledged that the West Devon Borough area was in the bottom quartile in respect of Superfast provision. This point was widely recognised and local MPs had sent a joint letter to the Minister for Digital and Broadband provision to highlight this matter;
(c) Representatives were keen to work alongside the Council’s Rural Broadband Working Group and it was agreed that they would be invited to attend future Group meetings. The Committee felt it important to also receive regular updates and it was agreed that the best means of achieving this objectives would be discussed when considering the latest version of its draft Annual Work Programme (Minute O&S 11 below refers);
(d) Members commented that it had become particularly apparent during the recent lockdown that Superfast provision was not only critical to homes and businesses but also for education purposes;
(e) With regard to the voucher scheme, whilst economies of scale were an important factor, examples were cited of instances where twelve isolated properties had been able to gain connectivity. In such instances, the importance of willing landowners was often crucial;
(f) Members noted that neither CDS or Airband had any control over the existing infrastructure provided by Openreach;
(g) The representatives confirmed that they remained committed to Community Engagement and were more than willing to be invited to attend local town and parish council meetings.
In conclusion, the Chairman thanked the representatives for their attendance and informative presentations and Members looked forward to working closely with them in the upcoming months.