£5bn Budget broadband deal to help rural areas
A £5 billion roll-out of next generation broadband is set to boost rural areas of Scotland.
The package is set to be unveiled in the Budget by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and will target the most “hard-to-reach” areas of the UK, with radical plans to bring widespread 4G coverage to the most rural regions. It means more than five million homes and businesses are set to benefit.
The investment comes amid continuing concerns in rural Scotland about superfast coverage. It emerged this year that flagship Scottish Government plans to bring superfast broadband to every home and office in the country by the end of next year will be missed.
Remote areas of Scotland are set to benefit from a £5 billion Uk-wide roll-out of next generation broadband to be unveiled in Wednesday’s Budget.
The package being set out by Chancellor Rishi Sunak will target the most “hard-toreach” areas of the UK and will include radical plans to bring widespread 4G coverage to the most rural regions.
The investment comes amid continuing concerns in rural Scotland about superfast coverage. It emerged this year that flagship Scottish Government plans to bring superfast broadband to every home and office in the country by the end of next year will be missed.
Mr Sunak will unveil that gigabit-capable broadband, which is 40 times faster than standard superfast broadband, will be extended to the hardest-to-reach 20 per cent of the country when he sets out his Budget on Wednesday. It means more than five million homes and businesses are set to benefit.
Mr Sunak said: “We are committed to levelling up across every region and nation in the UK and that is why we are making the largest ever public investment into broadband.
“This investment delivers on our promises to the British people, boosting growth and prosperity across the country.” The investment is part of the government’s “levelling up” commitment to ensure that all regions and nations benefit from prosperity, not just London and the south-east.
The initiative is aimed at help to support businesses and boosting productivity, as well as making people’s lives easier at home and at work.
Scotland’s connectivity minister Paul Wheelhouse told MSPS in January that only about half of the premises in the Scottish Government’s R100 programme in south and central Scotland would be connected by 2021. Work to extend high-speed cables to every home and business is now expected to run past 2023.
The Scottish Government said it had committed £579 million towards the £600m programme and further funding will go to a voucher scheme for those missing out on the 2021 target.
Mr Sunak is also poised to announce details of a £1bn deal with the mobile phone industry that will see poor and patchy mobile coverage become a thing of the past.
Theaimistoimprove4gcoverage across the nation, with the UK government pledging the biggest improvements will be in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The cost will be shared between government and the industry.
The deal will provide extra coverage to 280,000 premises and almost 10,000 miles of roads, delivering on the government’s promises to boost growth in rural areas up and down the country.
The Tories have previously pledged to support next generation digital infrastructure, including £200m for broadband for places such as rural schools, and £200m for piloting innovative ways to roll out the fastest broadband services, boosting connectivity across the UK.
The Chancellor has refused to confirm whether he will stick to the fiscal rules set out in the Conservative manifesto when he delivers his first Budget.
Mr Sunak said he believed “very much” in the responsible management of public finances but declined to comment on whether the government will abide by its election pledges.
The Chancellor, who has been in office for less than a month following the departure of Sajid Javid, will present the first Budget of Boris Johnson’s government on Wednesday.
The Treasury has said it is set to double funding for flood defences to £5.2bn in the Budget.
The investment will help to build 2,000 flood and coastal defences to protect 336,000 properties in England over the next six years.
SNP calls for package to match Holyrood’s worldleading climate emergency targets
Scott Macnab
The SNP is calling on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to set out a package of measures to tackle the climate emergency in his Budget on Wednesday.
A series of demands for the UK government to address the environmental crisis has been unveiled by the SNP group at Westminster, which is urging the UK government to follow Holyrood’s lead in tackling the issue.
With Glasgow set to host the global COP26 climate conference this year, Mr Sunak is being warned his first Budget must not be a “squandered opportunity” to act on the issue.
Among the SNP demands are for Westminster to match Scotland’s climate change targets of a 75 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, as well as net zero carbon emissions no later than 2040 and
net zero of all emissions by 2045.
A commitment to ensuring the UK remains aligned with the high EU environmental regulations after the Brexit transition period ends, at the beginning of 2021, is also being called for by the SNP.
In addition, the Chancellor is being urged to announce a green energy deal that would ensure renewable energy schemes get the long-term certainty needed to support investment, as well as a greener tax deal for heating and energy-efficiency improvements in homes and businesses.
Mr Sunak is also being urged to ring-fence oil and gas receipts to create a netzero fund to help pay for the energy transition through investment in areas such as renewable energy, electric vehicles and carbon capture utilisation and storage.
SNP energy and climate change spokesman Alan Brown said: “The upcoming Budget must not be yet another squandered opportunity for the UK government to take action to tackle the climate emergency.
“In Scotland, the SNP is leading the way with the world’s most ambitious emissions reductions targets in law and tougher, faster interim targets, with Glasgow also set to host COP26 later this year as well.
“The UK government must use its Budget this week to set out a package of measures to tackle climate change and play its part.
“The SNP will continue to challenge the Westminster Tory government to commit to redoubling its efforts, and it is why we have set out a package of measures it must implement if it is serious about climate change.
“Those measures include following the Scottish Government’s lead and targets, stepping back from its efforts to roll back on high EU environmental standards and regulations, improving corporate responsibility in tackling the climate emergency, reforming the UK tax system to support greener choices, securing a green energy deal and creating a net-zero fund.”
In addition, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has called for a package to protect tourism businesses from the impact of coronavirus.
Mr Blackford said there should be a temporary drop in the VAT rate to 5 per cent to help businesses reduce their costs.