18:11 Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)

In North Lincolnshire, the broadband bid is for £12 million, of which £2.62 million is being provided by Broadband Delivery UK. Both BT and Fujitsu have said that North Lincolnshire is one of their top six priorities out of 40 bids, but the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has ranked it only 23rd. I would like Ministers—I am happy for them to respond by letter—to look at the ranking that DCMS has given to the North Lincolnshire bid, particularly in the light of the priority that BT and Fujitsu have given to it, and to take into account the developments along the Humber to support the renewable energy and enterprise zones that we have and that will require much better broadband access. I also ask them to consider the funding from the European regional development fund. Our proposal involves using ERDF funding, but there is the concern that the Yorkshire and the Humber ERDF team might not have the capacity to deliver the project on time.

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