The South Glos Post

Council plans to promote access to high-speed broadband throughout South Gloucestershire have taken a crucial step forward with the launch of a new exercise to confirm the areas where internet access should be improved.

The council has teamed up with Wiltshire and Swindon councils to progress its plans and the three councils will be asking broadband suppliers to confirm areas where connection speeds are low and unlikely to be improved by planned commercial investment within the next three years.

Once these so-called ‘white’ areas have been confirmed, the three councils will invite companies to bid to upgrade the areas’ broadband infrastructure, supported by local and central government funding via the national Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme.

South Gloucestershire has been allocated £710,000 through BDUK to support the project, and the council’s Cabinet will be meeting on Monday to make recommendations to allocate £2.2m to the project.

It is hoped that a contract can be awarded to a successful supplier by this summer, with work to upgrade the infrastructure beginning in winter 2012.

More: Consultation is a vital step towards start of upgrade »

Source: South Gloucestershire Council

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Every home and business in South Gloucestershire will potentially be able to access broadband by 2015 with nine out of ten enjoying superfast speeds of up to 24 Mbps, thanks to nearly £3m of public investment.

South Gloucestershire Council has drawn up plans to invest £2.2m of its own money in providing broadband infrastructure capable of delivering much faster speeds, which will be added to a £710k grant from the government body Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

In line with the ambition in South Gloucestershire’s recently refreshed Sustainable Community Strategy to improve access to broadband for all, this project’s aim is to achieve access to a minimum of 2 Mbps broadband speeds for all premises in South Gloucestershire by 2015 and superfast broadband to be available to a target of 90 per cent of premises – also by 2015.

Work to install the superfast broadband infrastructure could start as early as this December because the new tie-up with Wiltshire Council – confirmed earlier this month by South Gloucestershire’s Conservative Cabinet – ensures that the district’s broadband project is one of the most advanced in the country.

It’s estimated that around 82 per cent of premises in South Gloucestershire will be able to benefit from improved broadband infrastructure funded by broadband suppliers themselves, resulting in the availability of a faster and more reliable service by 2014.

The remaining 18 per cent (approx 21,000) of premises – where there are currently no plans by broadband suppliers to invest – will benefit from this public investment in order to make the provision of faster broadband commercially viable.

More: Plan must be ratified by Full Council on 22nd February »

Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council

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A local government spending watchdog has warned South Gloucestershire Council that failures in the way it managed grant applications from disabled people could mean central government will cut its funding.

The Audit Commission has published a critical account of the way in which Conservative-run South Gloucestershire Council managed its process for awarding Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs). Councils are obliged by law to fund DFGs and they are awarded to residents on low incomes to help with the installation of aids such as walk-in-showers, stair-lifts and widening of doorways.

In its report, the Commission criticises the Council’s Community Care & Housing department for failing to ensure enough estimates of the cost of works were obtained prior to awarding grants. The Council is required by central government to see at least two estimates before a grant can be awarded. However, according to managers, it “became the norm” for only one estimate to be sought from applicants. The Council’s total spend on DFGs for 2010/11 was £2million of which £600,000 was paid to one company alone.

Cllr Pat Apps (Labour, Kings Chase) who chairs the Council committee which scrutinises the Community Care & Housing Department said she was shocked to hear about the Audit Commission’s findings. She said:

“At a time when council finances are being stretched due to government cuts, and we are being told that every penny has to count, I am shocked to hear that the Conservative administration has been awarding grants based on just one estimate.”

More: Government may refuse to pay full amount to Council »

Source: Labour Councillors on South Gloucestershire Council

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Council plans to boost access to high-speed broadband in partnership with Wiltshire and Swindon councils have been officially approved by South Gloucestershire’s Cabinet.

The partnership, first revealed last month, means that South Gloucestershire will now be among the first councils in the country to begin signing up a commercial provider under the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme.

The BDUK scheme uses central and local government funding to ensure that areas not usually attractive to commercial providers can access the economic and social benefits of high-speed broadband.

South Gloucestershire Council Executive Member for Corporate Affairs John Goddard said:

“Residents and businesses will be encouraged to know that the council is forging ahead with plans to boost access to these vital technologies across South Gloucestershire.”

“High-speed broadband brings a wealth of economic and social benefits for communities and businesses alike and the partnership with Wiltshire and Swindon means these benefits will be available even sooner than first hoped.”

More than 3,000 respond to council’s broadband survey »

Source: South Gloucestershire Council

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