DCMS statement in response to the Public Accounts Committee rural broadband report
Department for Culture, Media and Sport statement.
On 26 September 2013, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published its report on the Rural Broadband programme.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) disagrees with the views expressed by the PAC which are at odds with the findings of the National Audit Office (NAO). They found our approach reduced the cost to the taxpayer and reduced risk.
We put in place a fair commercial process and encouraged different suppliers to bid. We are disappointed that the PAC fails to recognise that thousands of rural premises who have never had a decent broadband supply are now getting one, something that is vital for farmers, rural businesses and all those who live outside major cities.
A full government response to the PAC report will be published in due course.