Multi-million broadband windfall for Devon

A near £8 million windfall has helped Devon County Council reduce its projected budget deficit.

Councillors heard that a programme aimed at connecting hard-to-reach homes to the internet would pay the county council £7.8 million as part of a government agreement with BT.

Around 326,000 rural or hard-to-access properties now have access to superfast broadband due to the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) scheme, with a further 40,000 connections planned for 2024.

The scheme is jointly funded with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

These organisations collectively invested more than £100 million into the scheme, which has seen more than 70 per cent of eligible homes and businesses take-up of CDS-funded broadband connections, above the national average.

“Thanks to the government’s agreement with BT, the success of the public take-up means CDS receives a substantial sum [from BT], known as gainshare, on its investment, which the local authority partner can reinvest,” a spokesperson for CDS said.

To date, this payment has been used to fund further broadband connections, but now the government’s national Project Gigabit programme essentially supersedes it, councils don’t need to use the money to fund broadband-related investment.

“As a result, councils who are facing huge financial pressures are looking to reinvest their remaining share of the gainshare money to protect vital public services and minimise the need for budget reductions,” the spokesperson added.

The financial injection means that Devon County Council now expects a £4.5 million overspend in the current financial year.

That’s an improvement of £9.1 million compared to its projections in September and could fall further by the end of the financial year if the council achieves further savings.