To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what (a) administrative and (b) financial support his Department has provided for the Broadband Stakeholders Group since it was established. (247422)

This Department contributes to the overall costs of the Broadband Stakeholders Group (BSG) with the remaining costs being provided by public sector membership subscriptions and support from Intellect. The Government’s contribution totalled approximately £820,000 over the last five and a half years and the annual percentage contribution from Government has been reduced during this time. The support is for operational and some specific project costs.

This Department does not provide administrative support to the BSG but has representation on the BSG Executive Committee.

The BSG helps advise the Government on Broadband issues of the day and provides an Industry/Government forum for exploring issues relating to the knowledge based economy, and utilisation of digital technologies.