Issue details

To seek agreement to:

1.     Enter into a contract to deliver the Kent and Medway BDUK extension     project

2.     Enter into a grant agreement with BDUK to draw down the £5.6 million       Government funding.

In accordance with the Council’s Scheme of Delegation to Officers, senior officers may take any actions necessary to implement the decision as set out above.  On this occasion the Corporate Director, Strategic and Corporate Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economic Development and the Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform will negotiate final terms and conditions (unless further delegated).

This project will build upon the work of the existing Kent and Medway BDUK project – by further extending the reach of superfast broadband service.

The current Kent and Medway BDUK project is working to bring superfast broadband of at least 24mbps to at least 91% of premises and ensure that every property in the project area will be able to access a standard broadband service of at least 2mbps by the end of 2015.

The government has recently awarded additional funding of £5.6 million as part of a new programme, which Kent County Council is matching, to extend the reach of superfast broadband services even further across Kent. We are currently working with BDUK, the government’s agency for delivering broadband, to take this ‘phase 2’ project forward – which is aiming to ensure that at least 95% of properties across the UK can access superfast broadband services by 2017.

Financial Implications: The project will receive £5.6 million of Government funding which will be matched by KCC.

Legal Implications: This decision will involve KCC entering into a grant agreement with Broadband Delivery UK (part of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport) and a contract with an infrastructure provider.

Equality Implications: This project is about extending the reach of superfast broadband services and reducing geographical inequalities in the access to superfast broadband infrastructure.

Further information: Transforming Kent and Medway’s broadband infrastructure will be critical for delivering Kent’s strategic ambitions as this project seeks to:

·         Deliver economic growth by removing a significant barrier to development

·         Support KCC’s ambition to put the citizen in control by providing the infrastructure to support the transformation of public services especially channel-shift agendas and next generation assisted living technologies.

·         Tackle disadvantage by increasing access to services and improving educational outcomes.

Furthermore through helping to reduce the need to travel by enabling greater home-working, this project will also contribute towards the delivery of a number of environmental outcomes around carbon reduction.