Chichester District Council
Issue

Issue - meetings

Extending Ultrafast Public Connectivity

Meeting: 03/12/2019 - Council (Item 68)

Extending Ultrafast Public Connectivity

The material relevant to this item is the report on pages 11 to 14 of the Cabinet agenda for 3 December 2019.

 

The report contains the following recommendation for the Cabinet to make to the Council:

 

That the Council underwrites the cost of the contract and that any costs not met by the Business Rates Pool for 2019/20 up to a maximum of £743,000 over a seven year period starting no earlier than 2021.

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Mr Wilding to introduce the report and referred members to pages 11 to 14 of the Cabinet agenda for 3 December 2019.

 

Mr Wilding explained that in 2017 the council signed up to a countywide Gigabit project. Part of the project was an award to West Sussex County Council (WSCC) of a government grant funded contract to create a fibre network connection for public sector sites across the county. Cityfibre won the contract and the project is now in the final stages. He explained that the council now has an opportunity to use the cool off arrangement to connect a further 50 council assets in Chichester city such as Westward House, Westgate centre and offices. The project requires new fibre infrastructure installation across the city but in turn will provide ultrafast connectivity to the council’s assets and increase fibre and digital infrastructure across the city, benefitting the local community and the local economy. The cost of the project is estimated at £743,000 over seven years and is likely to be met from the WSCC Business Rates Retention Pool. Mr Wilding confirmed that there is also a project relating to better connectivity in the rural areas.

 

Mr Barrett requested clarification on whether the council’s servers would be updated to cope with the demand. Mr Mildred confirmed that the servers are in the process of being rebuilt to utilise the new connection including it linking to the disaster recovery system at the Depot.

 

Dr O’Kelly noted that it was positive that other more rural areas in the district would be considered for future projects.

 

Mr Plowman requested clarification on the projects funding. Mr Ward confirmed that it is fully anticipated that the project would be paid for by the Business Rates Retention Pool.

 

Mrs Lintill drew attention to section 6.3 of the Cabinet report which explained that the project would connect Chichester considerably quicker than the government scheme which anticipated adoption in 2033.

 

Mr Wilding proposed the recommendation which was seconded by Mrs Lintill.

 

In a show of hands the Council voted in favour.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Council underwrites the cost of the contract and that any costs not met by the Business Rates Pool for 2019/20 up to a maximum of £743,000 over a seven year period starting no earlier than 2021.

 


Meeting: 03/12/2019 - Cabinet (Item 75)

75 Extending Ultrafast Public Connectivity pdf icon PDF 73 KB

The Cabinet is requested to consider the agenda report and make the following resolutions and recommendation to Council:

 

1.    That the Cabinet resolves to enter into an agreement with Cityfibre for an extension of the Council’s full fibre connectivity using the West Sussex County Council’s framework using the seven year revenue model.

 

2.    That the Cabinet delegates authority to the Director of Corporate Services and the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services the final approval of sites and contract detail.

 

3.    That Cabinet recommends to Council to underwrite the cost of the contract and that any costs not met by the Business Rates Pool for 2019/20 up to a maximum of £743,000 over a seven year period starting no earlier than 2021.

Decision:

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the Cabinet resolves to enter into an agreement with Cityfibre for an extension of the Council’s full fibre connectivity using the West Sussex County Council’s framework using the seven year revenue model.

2.    That the Cabinet delegates authority to the Director of Corporate Services and the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services the final approval of sites and contract detail.

 

RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL

 

That Cabinet recommends to Council to underwrite the cost of the contract and  that any costs not met by the Business Rates Pool for 2019/20 up to a maximum of £743,000 over a seven year period starting no earlier than 2021.

Minutes:

Mr Wilding introduced the item. He explained that in 2017 the council signed up to a countywide Gigabit project. Part of the project was an award to West Sussex County Council (WSCC) of a government grant funded contract to create a fibre network connection for public sector sites across the county. Cityfibre won the contract and the project is now in the final stages. He explained that the council now has an opportunity to use the cool off arrangement to connect a further 50 council assets in Chichester city such as Westward House, Westgate centre and offices. The project requires new fibre infrastructure installation across the city but in turn will provide ultrafast connectivity to the council’s assets and increase fibre and digital infrastructure across the city, benefitting the local community and the local economy. The cost of the project is estimated at £743,000 over seven years and is likely to be met from the West Sussex Business Rates Retention Pool.

 

Mr Wilding confirmed that there is also a project relating to better connectivity in the rural areas.

 

Mr Mildred added that the project is part of the programme of countywide projects which tie in to the national agenda for digital infrastructure. He explained that it puts the council at the forefront of the benefits on offer. A member briefing will be arranged next year.

 

Mrs Sharp was invited to ask her pre-submitted question as follows:

 

I understand that the Extending Ultrafast Public Connectivity report Item 5 on the agenda that this item doesn’t involve 5G. However could I ask the Cabinet Members (Martyn Bell – Place and Penny Plant  - Environment)

 

A)   If you could, if possible work with Peter Wilding (Corporate Services) to link in the digging up the road issue with the Vision project to revamp our city pavements and possibly with tree planting works

We don’t yet as a County have a “Dig Once” policy but if we could work together to bring some co-benefits to Chichester residents this might make residents happier about the inconvenience of the digging works although we probably all agree on the society benefits that better connectivity can bring

B)   Could I ask Cabinet Members to share your personal views on the precautionary principle and 5G and trees

 

I know that you might say 5G doesn’t need to be discussed under this Agenda item but this project doesn’t preclude the coming of 5 G and residents’ concerns are very real especially for those who have health issues linked to Wi-Fi etc so some reassurance from Cabinet members that they are looking into these issues would be a comfort.

 

Mr Wilding provided the following response:

 

With regards to the first part of your question the Council is represented on a Countywide group that is coordinating the approach to Digital Infrastructure, one key work stream of that group is developing a ‘Dig Once’ approach. Whilst the County Council will need to lead this as they grant the licences for digging roads we will  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75


 

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