Kent allocated £9.87m for Broadband roll-out

17 August 2011

Kent is set to get £9.87 million to help take Broadband to everyone and superfast to 90 per cent of homes and businesses in the county, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced on Tuesday 16 August.

Mr Hunt today set out details of how the English counties can get a share of the Government’s £530 million broadband investment fund, and urged local authorities to play their part.
 
The private sector on its own will take superfast Broadband to around two-thirds of UK households and businesses - this funding will be used to help take broadband to the remaining one third by making it viable for business to invest.

Broadband delivery plan

It is now up to local authorities to get on board to access the money.  Each county council or local enterprise partnership will lead Broadband roll-out in their area. They can secure their share of the Government investment by drawing up an effective local  Broadband delivery plan, and matching the Government’s investment with European, their own or private funds.

"We need to work together to secure the rest of the money"

Kent County Council Cabinet  Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, Kevin Lynes, said:

"We welcome this good news as it clarifies how much Kent will receive from the Government towards providing superfast Broadband in the county, which is so important for businesses and economic growth. However, there are conditions to this.

“The county council has done a lot of work already. Over the last 10 years, we have invested in the order of £30million on Broadband projects, partly to establish the public service network which has brought high-speed Broadband into Kent classrooms, and also through grants to small communities.

“In addition, with our colleagues at Medway council, we have presented a robust case for high-speed Broadband in Kent.  It is going to cost at least £42 million to introduce this to 90% of homes and businesses in the county, which is the national aim. That means the Government has earmarked about a quarter of what we need.

“We now need to work together to secure the rest of the money. The announcement comes as the county council, Medway and Kent’s district councils are having to make huge budget savings, and must be seen against that background.

“Initially we will need to work alongside our public sector partners to see if we can find innovative ways of raising the remaining money that is needed. At the same time, there is a great opportunity for businesses to invest in super-fast Broadband, which is critical for the county’s economy to grow.”