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Written question asked by Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 10 October 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 October 2025. It was answered by Kanishka Narayan (Labour) on Monday, 20 October 2025 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Broadband: Chichester

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) effective management and (b) oversight of fibre broadband rollout in Chichester constituency.

Answer

CityFibre is delivering Project Gigabit contracts across East and West Sussex, as well as Hampshire. These contracts currently include approximately 4,750 premises in the Chichester constituency.

All Project Gigabit contracts include criteria and obligations regarding time and budget against which suppliers’ performance is monitored. These include measures to manage effective build plans, milestones, risks and issues.

My Department holds regular meetings with suppliers to discuss their progress. Each supplier’s performance is measured using monthly contractual reporting, reviewing the build progress and payment claims on each contract.

Failure to deliver to a contract milestone on any build phase of a contract can result in the trigger of a rectification plan process and cessation of payments until the milestone is achieved.

Beyond Project Gigabit, in areas where deployment is commercially viable, we have created a competition-friendly environment to support the roll-out of gigabit broadband.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
80901
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Broadband Chichester Optical fibres
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk