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Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:22 pm on 9 November 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:22, 9 November 2021

I thank Peter Fox for that, Llywydd. I'll make an enquiry into the postcode facility and what has happened to it, and I'll make sure that I write to the Member with a reply on that. 

It's an interesting question about what lies beyond the current round of Welsh Government funding. Our funding over recent years has largely been used to fill gaps in the provision that the UK Government was embarked upon, but it is fair to say that in the last 12 months the UK Government has announced a significant increase in its programme—its UK-funded 'Project Gigabit'. We've recently learned from the UK Government that they believe that there are 234,000 properties likely to be in scope now for its funding, and there are discussions going on at the moment to work through the question of whether it will be preferable for the UK Government now simply to press ahead with its own scheme—to run it, to deliver it, to operate it here in Wales—or whether it would be preferable to use the on-the-ground machinery that the Welsh Government has set up, and then use the UK Government funding to continue to provide in that way. Those conversations are going on at the moment, and I expect them to be concluded before the end of this calendar year.