Issue details
Faster Farmers Direct Commission
The Fastershire Broadband Strategy 2019-22
vision is that all residents and businesses in Herefordshire and
Gloucestershire will be enabled to access the connectivity they
need and encourage people to use faster broadband to do more
online, boost business growth and achieve their potential.
The Strategy includes a number of Objectives to increase the
infrastructure but also to increase the awareness and demand for
superfast broadband and its exploitation once it is available. This
is particularly the case with the counties’ businesses.
The need to encourage the adoption and exploitation of the digital
economy is significant both to maximise the economic impact of the
council’s investment in broadband infrastructure and to
increase the degree of financial clawback that the council receives
from its broadband contracts.
While the Fastershire project itself and council staff are well
placed to deliver demand stimulation activity among local business
and communities, it recognises where other partners could achieve
greater impact by devolving activity. Engaging directly with the
land based sector is one such instance.
The Herefordshire Rural Hub was established in 2004 to promote
economic, social and environmental improvements in farming and
rural businesses in Herefordshire. They are recognised locally for
the quality, impartiality and honesty of the advice, information
and support they provide. The Hub is funded through sponsorship and
by subcontracting their services to other rural organisations. It
has the most expansive network of rural businesses than any other
organisation which offers their sponsors and commissioners the
ability to reach parts of the economy that can be difficult to
access.
Fastershire has a limited budget with which to undertake its demand
stimulation activities and achieve what are extremely challenging
engagement targets. £5,000 has been notionally allocated to
run the Faster Farmers programme which consists of online training
and webinars, and training sessions delivered across Herefordshire
and Gloucestershire on subjects such as cloud based accounting,
farm carbon calculating, and on-line livestock management, to extol
the benefits of superfast broadband for the land based
sector.
Were Fastershire to attempt to run this element of the programme
themselves or tender the opportunity among generic training
providers it would take a significant amount of time to generate
the contacts that the Hub have and could prove impossible to
replicate the credibility the hub holds among a difficult to reach
group. This could significantly inhibit the council’s ability
to target participants.
Decision type: Non-key
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Notice of proposed decision first published: 07/06/2021
Decision due: 4 June 2021 by Assistant director Corporate Support (Historic)
Contact: Natalia Silver, Service Director - Corporate Services Email: nsilver@herefordshire.gov.uk Tel: 01432260732.
Decisions
- 07/06/2021 - Faster Farmers Direct Commission