“Tackling the digital divide will be important to levelling up in every community, ensuring everyone has the connectivity they need to thrive. We remain committed to working with government to help design an approach to roll out that will benefit from councils’ local expertise.”
Commenting on the announcement in the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper that by 2030, the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Digital Connectivity spokesperson for the Local Government Association said:
“Councils have a vital role to play helping to improve local communities’ connectivity. The last two years have shown how access to fast and reliable digital connectivity is an everyday necessity for communities and businesses and is essential to keeping pace with events across the globe.
“It is positive that the Government has set a target for the UK to have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage by 2030. With the right funding and opportunity to work in partnership with government, councils could play a far greater role targeting communities most in need, driving demand stimulation and providing digital upskilling to support the rollout.
“The Government should empower councils to place a local digital champion in every local area to help facilitate delivery and support providers to install gigabit-capable broadband as quickly as possible. A local digital champion would be a central contact point for government and broadband providers to help problem solve deployment issues in the local area.
“Tackling the digital divide will be important to levelling up in every community, ensuring everyone has the connectivity they need to thrive. We remain committed to working with government to help design an approach to roll out that will benefit from councils’ local expertise.”