Issue - meetings

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

30.1     The Team Manager, Economic Development introduced the report which sets out the progress to date in the delivery of the Superfast Broadband Project that has included work in all 64 telephone exchange areas included in the Project’s intervention area. In the early phases of the project the main method of delivery was via fibre to the cabinet but has also included fibre to the premises. The final stages of the Project contract have been targeted at trying to connect the very hard to reach properties commercially, and the final contract has solely used fibre to the premises.

30.2     In essence, the Project aims to deliver access to superfast broadband speeds where the commercial market on its own would not. As at February 2022 there is 98% coverage for superfast broadband in East Sussex, and the Project uptake for superfast services is 64%. This has exceeded the original service uptake estimates and has enabled the Project to re-invest in further provision.

30.3     East Sussex County Council (ESCC) has set aside £500,000 to provide additional support to the Gigabit Voucher Scheme. There has been a lot of interest in the Voucher Scheme, but as yet there has not been a great level of uptake. The future delivery of Gigabit capable services through Project Gigabit will be through the government body Building Digital UK (BDUK). It is expected that BDUK will notify ESCC of the project intervention area sometime between August and October 2022 and implementation will start sometime between July and September 2023.

30.4     The Committee asked a number of questions about the Superfast Broadband Project, and the update given on the Gigabit Voucher Scheme and Project Gigabit. A summary of the discussion and points made is outlined below.

Gigabit services and Gigabit Voucher Scheme

30.5     The Committee noted that the provision of gigabit services in larger towns in the County (e.g. Bexhill, Eastbourne, Hasting, Lewes) are covered by commercial providers, but the smaller towns are also important such as Hailsham, Uckfield, etc. The Committee asked if the uptake of the Gigabit Voucher Scheme is low, whether ESCC should be more involved in promoting the Scheme. The Team Manager, Economic Development commented that the take up of the Gigabit Voucher Scheme may not necessarily be low because ESCC only becomes aware when an application is made for a top up, so there may be more uptake. The difference with the Voucher Scheme is that it relies on communities getting together to make an application and drive projects forward. There is information on the ESCC web site about the Voucher Scheme and the Team would like to publicise it more but is constrained by resources.

30.6     The Committee commented that the top up for the Voucher Scheme is available for those premises with speeds under 30 Megabits, but previously this was available to those with speeds under 100 megabits, which is having an impact on uptake. This also causes difficulties for some Voucher projects reaching thresholds for the number of properties included  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

18.1     The Team Manager, Economic Development introduced report. The purpose of the report is to provide an update on the implementation of the recommendations from the scrutiny review completed in March 2017. Further work has been undertaken on the redesigned web site which now provides information on the history of project; how to get the best out of broadband; detailed information on the roll out programme at property level; and a news section to announce when structures go live and other important updates.

18.2     The first two contracts undertaken as part of the Broadband Project have been completed on target, and Contract 2 will come in ahead of target in terms of the number of properties reached. As set out in the report, the delivery of Contract 3 has been delayed slightly. The Team Manager, Economic Development  outlined that for Contract 3 the Council wanted more clarity on what is going to be delivered and required the successful bidder to complete a survey of all the remaining properties without superfast broadband. This will provide information on the estimated cost of reaching the remaining properties and will help to target resources cost effectively. This is the only contract nationally that has this requirement.

18.3     Unfortunately there were some issues with the quality of the information from the survey, but this has now been reworked to remove duplicates and other properties where broadband services are not required e.g. landfill sites. This has led to some delays in agreeing a deployment plan. However, BT Openreach has continued with preparations to deliver the contract, and has submitted revised proposals for deployment. These have been examined and are acceptable. The supplier will be issuing a change request to implement changes to the contract following the data corrections. Consequently, the Council will soon be able to let communities know whether they are included in the deployment plan.

18.4     The coverage achieved by the Broadband Project as at July 2019 is 97.3%, compared to 65% in July 2013. The take up rate for superfast broadband services is 64% against a national benchmark of 20%. This means that the there is good superfast broadband coverage across the County and people are using it.

18.5     The Committee discussed the report and noted the excellent work that had been undertaken on the Project to reach as many properties as possible. It was clarified that there will be a map, or other tool, that will identify those properties that will not be covered by the deployment plan agreed for Contract 3. The Committee commented that as coverage was now just over 97% and most of the work had been done, it might be better for Scrutiny to focus work on the remaining hard to reach properties after the completion of Contract 3.

18.6     The Director of Communities, Economy and Transport outlined that the Project has done a lot for the rural community through the roll out of the various contracts, but the last 3% of properties will be more expensive to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18

Report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport.

38.1     The Team Manager Economic Development introduced the report which outlines the progress in implementing the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review. Some of the actions to implement the recommendations are dependent on the completion of Contract 2 and the commencement of Contract 3 of the Broadband Project. There has been some delay in responding to the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review due to long term staff sickness within the Broadband Team but this is now resolved.

38.2     The Scrutiny Review particularly asked the Broadband Team to look at communications and information. An information pack for Councillors has been developed and will be circulated to all Members. The Broadband Team have also revised and revamped the web site which will go live shortly. It will contain information on the project at property level rather than just at post code level. This will provide greater detail and provide further information on where businesses and residents are in the delivery plans for the project roll out.

Project Progress

38.3     The Team Manager Economic Development outlined the project progress to date. The coverage in East Sussex is currently 96% of premises have access to superfast broadband, which provides speeds of 24 Megabits per second (Mbps) or above. The take up of superfast services is just short of 50%, compared with a national average of 20% for similar broadband projects. The current Contract 2 will complete in December 2018.

38.4     Contract 3 has been let and will survey all properties that do not yet have access to superfast broadband before work commences in January 2019. This means the Broadband Team will know where work is going to take place and will also be clear about areas not covered and which will need further support. The Assistant Director Economy commented that the Team will be in a position in December 2018 to be able to say which premises will be included and when they will be worked on. The work included in Contract 3 will finish at the end of March 2020.

38.5     The Director of Communities, Economy and Transport (CET) outlined that the procurement process for Contract 3 has been quite complicated and represents the first contract of this type nationally. It is not as constrained by the requirements of Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) as the two previous contracts, but required the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to approve and assure the procurement process. The aim is to achieve 99% coverage for access to superfast broadband by the end of Contract 3.

38.6     The Committee asked if there will there be any money at end of Contract 3, generated by the higher levels of take up, which will be available to deal with 1% of premises that do not have access to superfast services. The Team Manager Economic Development responded that there may be some money available from the higher take up that can be reinvested in the project. In addition, Contract 3 has some of the best commercial terms that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38

Report by Assistant Chief Executive

4.1       The Cabinet considered a report by the Economy, Transport and Environment Scrutiny Committee and a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport with observations on the Scrutiny Committee’s report

4.2 It was RESOLVED to:

            1)         note and welcome the report of the Scrutiny Committee; and

            2)         recommend the County Council welcome the report of the Scrutiny Committee and to agree the response of the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport to the recommendations and their implementation as set out in the action plan attached as Appendix 1 to the report

Reason

4.3       The Scrutiny Review has provided a thorough examination of the concerns expressed by residents about the Superfast Broadband Project, and makes a number of practical recommendations to provide solutions.   

To consider the report of the Review Board.

35.1     The Chair of the Review Board introduced the report and asked Officers for their views on the recommendations of the Review Board. The Director of Communities, Economy and Transport (CET) and the Team Manager, Economic Development welcomed report and did not foresee any problems with implementing recommendations which will help convey clear messages about the Broadband Project.

35.2     The Committee RESOLVED to agree the report of the Review Board and to make recommendations to Cabinet for comment and the County Council for approval.