HC Deb 22 October 2002 vol 391 cc249-50W
Mr. Sanders

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of households in the Torbay constituency have access to broadband lines; and if she will make a statement. [74859]

Stephen Timms

The Government do not compile figures for broadband connections broken down into individual constituencies. However, a map showing geographical availability broadband services can be found in the UK Online Annual Report (http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/sections/ reports-anrep2001-images/$file/fig01.pdf).

Mr. Steen

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement about the role of her Department's broadband regional strategy; how many staff are employed by her Department to promote broadband; and what progress has been made in extending broadband to rural areas. [74934]

Stephen Timms

At a regional level, DTI is currently setting up a new regional broadband unit, whereby a broadband expert will be located in each of the English regions and the devolved administrations, with the aim of stimulating the take-up and availability of broadband across the UK. The work of this unit will therefore include looking at extending broadband to rural and remote areas. The Department has also provided the regions and devolved administrations with the £30 million Broadband Fund to develop innovative schemes and pilot projects to help extend broadband networks.

When current recruitment exercises have been completed, the number of people employed by the Department to promote our broadband strategy will be around 20, which includes the regional broadband unit. The Department's UK Online for Business and Digital Content and Publishing teams also contribute to our broadband work.