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B O S T O N
BOROUGH COUNCIL
AGENDA ITEM NO: 2
REPORT TO:
CABINET
DATE:
29 APRIL 2015
SUBJECT:
BROADBAND UPDATE
PORTFOLIO HOLDER:
AARON SPENCER – PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR
FINANCE
REPORT AUTHOR:
STRATEGIC DIRECTOR – RESOURCES
EXEMPT REPORT?
NO
SUMMARY
The BroadbandUK (BDUK) project to deliver SuperFast broadband across Lincolnshire
has now provided over 80,000 homes with access to broadband speeds that would not
otherwise have been financially viable.
Based on an agreement made by the Chief Executives of the Lincolnshire Districts to
collectively contribute £4m of the total £14m public sector contribution towards the
Lincolnshire BDUK programme, Boston Borough Council agreed to contribute an 8.6%
share of the £4m required. This would have meant a maximum contribution from
Boston of £344,310. It was originally hoped that additional European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF) funding would reduce the Borough’s contribution, and so
an allocation of £300,000 was made in the Council’s Capital Programme.
Unfortunately, ERDF funding has not been forthcoming for this project, and this report
seeks approval for an additional sum of £44,310 to be allocated to support the project,
funded from capital resources.
Scheme estimates anticipate that up to 1,800 jobs will be created as a result of the
project, equating to approximately 150 in the Boston area if shared equally within the
county.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Members are asked to approve the revised contribution of £344,310, which will be
met from the existing £300,000 Capital Programme allocation, plus parts of the
2014/15 Capital Budget underspend.
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
The BroadbandUK project has countywide support, and has already delivered
improved broadband access speeds to significant parts of the Borough, with
completion via the BDUK project set for 2016.
Original predictions stated that Lincolnshire as a whole would experience a gross value
added (GVA) uplift of around £47m to £66m per year over the next 5 – 7 years through
the introduction of SuperFast Broadband. This equates to between 1,300 and 1,800
new jobs across the County.
Using the 8.6% Boston contribution this equates to GVA uplift in Boston Borough of
around £4m to £5.7m per year, and between 111 and 154 new jobs .
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
Not to support the initiative, and the revised contribution.
1.0
CURRENT POSITION
1.1
The Broadband UK (BDUK) project to deliver SuperFast broadband across
Lincolnshire has provided over 80,000 homes with access to broadband
speeds that would not otherwise have been financially viable.
1.2
The original project aimed to reach 90% of households in the county, but
advances in technology during the project means that 95% of households are
now anticipated to be included by the end of the project.
1.3
Across the Borough of Boston, this has resulted in over 6,000 properties
having access to broadband speeds in excess of 24mbps which would not
otherwise have been provided access to SuperFast speeds.
1.3
The BDUK project has 8 stages, and is currently nearing the end of Stage 5.
As most borough locations were included in Phases 3 and 4 of the
programme, this means the rollout in the borough is almost complete.
1.4
There is some further work to be completed in the borough, with
approximately 4,600 properties scheduled for upgrades by the end of Stage 6,
which ends in September 2015.
1.5
Not all properties in the Borough are eligible for the BDUK access to
SuperFast speeds, however, as some areas were already included in BT’s
own commercial rollout plan. It is anticipated that this commercial rollout will
be completed by 2017.
1.6
Customer take-up of the new high speed services varies enormously across
the Borough, and depends on many factors, with some of the early elements
now approaching 20% take-up. It is expected that numbers will increase
significantly in the coming years as customers begin to adopt increasingly
popular online video and television services.
1.7
In addition to the main project to provide high speed fixed-line broadband, the
Borough has also benefited through an ERDF funded pilot project to provide
wireless broadband services. Whilst this was specifically targeted at a
sparsely populated area of the Borough which would fall into the areas unable
to receive SuperFast broadband, the area covered continues to expand and
offers an alternative to an increasing number of Borough residents and
businesses.
1.8
Whilst the vast majority of properties will have access to high speed services,
technologies have also emerged during the lifetime of the project that now
make it financially viable to provide SuperFast speeds to locations previously
deemed beyond economical reach.
1.9
The Lincolnshire programme has been structured to ensure that the
programme budget allows for the deployment of new technologies once the
main programme is complete in March 2016. As such, it is not possible to
predict at this stage what the exact number of properties will be that have
been upgraded to SuperFast Broadband.
1.10
Unfortunately additional ERDF funding applications have only been successful
on the proviso that the monies are not invested in broadband infrastructure,
and so the full 8.6% share of the infrastructure upgrade (£344,310) has now
been requested from the Borough Council.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The Borough’s contribution is £344,310, slightly above the previously allocated sum of
£300,000 already included in the Capital Programme. The currently unallocated sum
will be funded from part of the 2014/15 capital budget underspend.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
None identified
ANY OTHER IMPLICATIONS
None
CONSULTATION
None undertaken
APPENDICES
None
BACKGROUND PAPERS
None
CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THIS REPORT
BOSTON BOROUGH COUNCIL
PROFORMA FOR EXECUTIVE APPROVAL OF THE RELEASE OF RESOURCES
(CAPITAL AND REVENUE BUDGETS)
FROM:
THIS PROFORMA PROVIDES THE FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
IN RESPECT OF THE ATTACHED
REPORT:
REPORT DATE:
£ Year 1
2014/15
£ Year 2
2015/16
£ Year 3
2016/17
£ Year 4
2017/18
£ Year 5
2018/19
Contribution to Capital
44,310
0
0
0
0
Total Revenue Costs
44,310
0
0
0
0
Funding required:
Total capital cost
Additional cost
£300,000
(already
approved)
£44,310
Considered by:
Date:
Cabinet
29 April 2015
Financial Services Comments
The additional funding will come from the 2014/15 capital programme underspend.
Risk
All risks have been addressed in the report attached, no additional financial risk identified.