– in the Scottish Parliament at on 18 January 2018.
2. To ask the Scottish Government what impact the R100 superfast broadband programme will have on rural areas. (S5O-01665)
The R100 superfast broadband programme will make rural Scotland one of the most digitally connected places anywhere in Europe and will underpin and enable future economic growth. It is the only universal superfast broadband programme in the United Kingdom, and it demonstrates the Scottish Government’s ambition to make Scotland a world-class digital nation.
I very much welcome what the cabinet secretary has just said. Given that the Scottish Government seeks to make universally available broadband speed that is three times as fast as that which the UK Government plans to deliver, can the cabinet secretary identify any particular benefits that that higher speed in Scotland will have in rural areas?
Mr Stevenson is correct. The UK Government might consider that 10 megabits per second is adequate for homes and businesses, but I certainly do not. That is why we have stipulated in our programme that we will seek to deliver 30 Mbps for every home and business in the country by the end of 2021.
The digital sector is now worth more than £4 billion to the Scottish economy, and research shows that every £1 of public investment in broadband returns around £20 in net economic impact. I believe that, through our investment of £600 million to deliver universal, 100 per cent access to superfast broadband, we will see created in Scotland a digital infrastructure that will allow businesses across the country—particularly in rural and remote areas—to modernise, digitalise, innovate and grow.
I welcome the £600 million that has been promised for the R100 programme, which will be spent in 2019 to 2021, but I find it exceptionally disappointing that the budget for digital connectivity this year has been slashed from £136 million to £58.5 million. Obviously, that will impact on rural premises in north-east Scotland, where people desperately need a decent broadband speed now. How can the cabinet secretary justify slashing this year’s budget when so much remains to be done?
The £600 million is the largest investment in any single broadband project ever in the UK. The money will be used when it is required, and not before it is required. That is how government is done.
Incidentally, if Mr Chapman and the Tories want to have any vestige of the ability to claim that they are standing up for Scotland, they should apply their attention to the fact that the UK’s contribution to the £600 million for broadband provision, which is a reserved function, is a measly 3 per cent. Do the Tories support that? I think that we will have a prolonged period of radio, broadband and mobile silence from the Scottish Tories on that issue. Not one of them has the backbone to stand up for Scotland.
When will residents in rural Aberdeenshire, for instance, who regularly receive speeds of around 7 or 8 Mbps, find out when they will reach the promised 30 Mbps?
I thank Mr Rumbles for a perfectly reasonable question, to which there are two answers.
First, during 2018, new broadband access will continue to be provided under our two highly successful digital superfast broadband contracts, at an investment of £400 million. There will also be further commercial investment during the year.
Secondly, the details of the contracts that we will award under R100 in respect of three segments in Scotland—north, central and south—will become available as soon as possible after the contracts have been awarded.
Plainly, we have to deal with the tendering process and go through it in accordance with the competitive dialogue process to get best value for money for the taxpayer and to keep Mr Mackay as happy as he can be. We also have to take care to get it right, and that is what we will do, in one of the most complex tender exercises that has taken place in Scotland. Once we complete that exercise, we will provide information as soon as we can to communities throughout Scotland, which understandably wish to know when each person and business will have access. We will provide that access by the end of 2021, which is a pledge that only this Government is making.