This is North Devon -- The chief executive of two Westcountry councils has spoken out against a gagging order that is being used to prevent communities from getting information about the rural superfast broadband roll-out. As part of a contract with BT and the Connecting Devon and Somerset programme, councils were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that is now being cited as a reason that information about upgrades cannot be given out. On this basis, even Freedom of Information Act requests regarding the roll-out have been turned down on the basis that the schedule is commercially sensitive and that giving out the information would be "an actionable breach of confidence". The only authorities in the region not to have signed this non-disclosure agreement are East Devon District Council and South Somerset District Council, whose joint chief executive, Mark Williams, refused to sign it. He said: "To be presented with a non-disclosure agreement was a highly unusual thing in terms of a programme that's been funded by public money. That was the initial concern. "The public are interested in matters of transparency and they would expect their council to tell them things. There is a quality to an NDA that went against the grain." Because they haven't signed up to the gagging order, the two authorities have been able to set up a joint 'task and finish forum' – essentially a form of scrutiny committee – to consider how effectively the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) project is being implemented. Mr Williams said that if the authorities had signed the non-disclosure agreement such scrutiny would not be possible. "I could imagine that if members had wanted to raise the issue in Teignbridge and Exeter then officers would be turning around and saying 'we have signed an NDA we can't get involved'," he said. "The purpose of the NDA seems to have been more about BT controlling the message. We have had a task and finish forum because people were concerned that people might have been making business and other decisions when the information is not available." Mr Williams added: "The key message that the scrutiny team had coming out was that the CDS team need to do a lot more to communicate with local communities." The Connecting Devon and Somerset programme signed a deal with BT just over a year ago to deliver high-speed fibre optic broadband to 90% of premises in the two counties by the end of 2016. The £94 million programme for Devon and Somerset includes £53 million from the Government's BDUK scheme to deliver superfast broadband to rural areas. There is also a £20 million Rural Broadband Community Fund available for communities in the 10% of areas that are hardest to reach, but because of the lack of information about the scheduled roll-out, some Westcountry communities say they do not know if they are eligible for this funding. A roll-out map on the CDS website gives guidance on when some exchanges will be upgraded to superfast, but large parts of the two counties are marked as still being under evaluation. Culture secretary Maria Miller has previously written to local authorities urging them to publish details of the superfast roll-out to help communities decide whether to set up their own schemes to try and plug any gaps. Her letter to authorities says: "I would strongly encourage those of you who have already signed contracts to arrange for the proposed coverage from your project to be published as soon as possible." Graham Long, a parish councillor for Upottery, in the Blackdown Hills, said he was concerned that the village could see businesses relocate to either Taunton or Honiton because of a lack of information about the roll-out. "People are suffering for this in areas like mine," he said. Upottery Parish Council has now organised a petition calling for upgrades to be made available in Devon and Somerset villages, which has received more than 1,000 signatures. The parish council has also organised a public meeting which will take place from 6pm on Friday and will be chaired by local MP Neil Parish. Representatives of Devon County Council, Connecting Devon and Somerset and BT will be present. A spokesman for CDS said: "The Connecting Devon and Somerset programme is one of the most complex publicly funded infrastructure roll-out programmes in England. "Our varied landscape can pose many challenges to our engineering teams. Even with the detailed survey and planning work that ensures the roll-out provides the best value for public money, there are many factors that can affect how the schedule is determined on the ground. There are often on-site issues such as blocked ducts – and of course the weather can also play its part. "We know there has been a lot of discussion on the level of information we are able to provide, but as we explain on our website, until the survey work for each phase is completed, we cannot give information that is accurate at village level. "When this information is ready we update both the interactive and the current infrastructure deployment maps, which we encourage our residents and businesses to check regularly." BT spokesman Jason Mann said: "The partnership is committed to making detailed and accurate information on the roll-out available as early as possible, but it can only do so when detailed survey work has been undertaken. "The partnership has already been able to announce when many of the early locations will be upgraded and it will make further announcements and update the maps on the CDS website as further survey work is completed and more information becomes available."
Reported by This is 15 hours ago.
This is North Devon -- The chief executive of two Westcountry councils has spoken out against a gagging order that is being used to prevent communities from getting information about the rural superfast broadband roll-out. As part of a contract with BT and the Connecting Devon and Somerset programme, councils were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that is now being cited as a reason that information about upgrades cannot be given out. On this basis, even Freedom of Information Act requests regarding the roll-out have been turned down on the basis that the schedule is commercially sensitive and that giving out the information would be "an actionable breach of confidence". The only authorities in the region not to have signed this non-disclosure agreement are East Devon District Council and South Somerset District Council, whose joint chief executive, Mark Williams, refused to sign it. He said: "To be presented with a non-disclosure agreement was a highly unusual thing in terms of a programme that's been funded by public money. That was the initial concern. "The public are interested in matters of transparency and they would expect their council to tell them things. There is a quality to an NDA that went against the grain." Because they haven't signed up to the gagging order, the two authorities have been able to set up a joint 'task and finish forum' – essentially a form of scrutiny committee – to consider how effectively the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) project is being implemented. Mr Williams said that if the authorities had signed the non-disclosure agreement such scrutiny would not be possible. "I could imagine that if members had wanted to raise the issue in Teignbridge and Exeter then officers would be turning around and saying 'we have signed an NDA we can't get involved'," he said. "The purpose of the NDA seems to have been more about BT controlling the message. We have had a task and finish forum because people were concerned that people might have been making business and other decisions when the information is not available." Mr Williams added: "The key message that the scrutiny team had coming out was that the CDS team need to do a lot more to communicate with local communities." The Connecting Devon and Somerset programme signed a deal with BT just over a year ago to deliver high-speed fibre optic broadband to 90% of premises in the two counties by the end of 2016. The £94 million programme for Devon and Somerset includes £53 million from the Government's BDUK scheme to deliver superfast broadband to rural areas. There is also a £20 million Rural Broadband Community Fund available for communities in the 10% of areas that are hardest to reach, but because of the lack of information about the scheduled roll-out, some Westcountry communities say they do not know if they are eligible for this funding. A roll-out map on the CDS website gives guidance on when some exchanges will be upgraded to superfast, but large parts of the two counties are marked as still being under evaluation. Culture secretary Maria Miller has previously written to local authorities urging them to publish details of the superfast roll-out to help communities decide whether to set up their own schemes to try and plug any gaps. Her letter to authorities says: "I would strongly encourage those of you who have already signed contracts to arrange for the proposed coverage from your project to be published as soon as possible." Graham Long, a parish councillor for Upottery, in the Blackdown Hills, said he was concerned that the village could see businesses relocate to either Taunton or Honiton because of a lack of information about the roll-out. "People are suffering for this in areas like mine," he said. Upottery Parish Council has now organised a petition calling for upgrades to be made available in Devon and Somerset villages, which has received more than 1,000 signatures. The parish council has also organised a public meeting which will take place from 6pm on Friday and will be chaired by local MP Neil Parish. Representatives of Devon County Council, Connecting Devon and Somerset and BT will be present. A spokesman for CDS said: "The Connecting Devon and Somerset programme is one of the most complex publicly funded infrastructure roll-out programmes in England. "Our varied landscape can pose many challenges to our engineering teams. Even with the detailed survey and planning work that ensures the roll-out provides the best value for public money, there are many factors that can affect how the schedule is determined on the ground. There are often on-site issues such as blocked ducts – and of course the weather can also play its part. "We know there has been a lot of discussion on the level of information we are able to provide, but as we explain on our website, until the survey work for each phase is completed, we cannot give information that is accurate at village level. "When this information is ready we update both the interactive and the current infrastructure deployment maps, which we encourage our residents and businesses to check regularly." BT spokesman Jason Mann said: "The partnership is committed to making detailed and accurate information on the roll-out available as early as possible, but it can only do so when detailed survey work has been undertaken. "The partnership has already been able to announce when many of the early locations will be upgraded and it will make further announcements and update the maps on the CDS website as further survey work is completed and more information becomes available."
Reported by This is 15 hours ago.