← Back to Westminster Hall Debates
Broadband: Rural Communities — [Peter Dowd in the Chair]
13 December 2023
Lead MP
Chris Loder
Responding Minister
John Whittingdale
Tags
EconomyForeign AffairsCulture, Media & SportScience & TechnologyBusiness & TradeAgriculture & Rural AffairsLocal Government
Word Count: 13236
Other Contributors: 10
At a Glance
Chris Loder raised concerns about broadband: rural communities — [peter dowd in the chair] in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key Requests to Government:
The MP requests for a more equitable approach towards rural communities with respect to Government targets and schemes, ensuring that the remaining 15% and 1% who lack gigabit availability by 2025 and 2030 respectively do not continue to be disadvantaged. He calls for action against anti-competitive practices among providers.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Lead Contributor
Opened the debate
The MP is concerned about the inequality, isolation and exclusion caused by poor rural broadband. He criticises Ofcom for not adequately representing rural areas' experiences and highlights that West Dorset has a significant 5G coverage gap with 100% of it being a 5G notspot or partial notspot. The digital phone switchover is seen as problematic due to inadequate connectivity, especially affecting elderly individuals. Only 83% of people in rural areas have fixed broadband compared to 98% in urban areas, impacting small businesses and the economy negatively.
Chris Bryant
Lab
Rhondda and Ogmore
Chris Bryant acknowledged the importance of broadband in rural areas for business, farming, education, healthcare, and social interaction. He highlighted concerns about affordability, lack of understanding among users about benefits, excessive competition leading to disruptive infrastructure work, and the need for a new Government digital strategy. Suggested that the Department for Work and Pensions include a reference to social tariffs in any letter to individuals receiving universal credit or other benefits.
Dave Doogan
SNP
Angus and Perthshire Glens
The Scottish Government are committed to providing superfast broadband to all homes and businesses by 2028, with around 99% of connections being full-fibre capable. The UK Government is only contributing £50 million towards a £600 million project, while the Scottish Government have invested £1 billion in public funding for digital connectivity. Every £1 invested in Scotland's Digital Scotland programme delivers £12 to the economy.
Flick Drummond
Con
Hampshire South
Ms Drummond highlighted delays in fibre installation and poor communication from Openreach, affecting many important residents. She also raised concerns about Trooli's abandonment of services in Woodlands, leaving the community without viable alternatives despite receiving public funding. In response to Dave Doogan's comments, Flick Drummond noted that only two public servants in her constituency have fast broadband while others do not. She highlighted the importance of extending fast broadband to all important individuals and communities.
Greg Knight
Con
Devon, North East
He congratulates the hon. Friend on securing this important debate and asks if there is a reason why geographically isolated communities need to be digitally isolated.
Jesse Norman
Con
Hereford and South Herefordshire
He thanks his hon. Friend for calling the debate, raising concerns about 'notspots' in both urban and rural areas of his constituency, highlighting issues with voice over internet protocol as a solution.
Jim Shannon
DUP
Strangford
Jim Shannon highlighted the progress made in Northern Ireland, noting that broadband availability is at 82% full-fibre compared to England's 67%, Scotland's 60%, and Wales' 49%. He mentioned a deal secured in 2017 for £150 million of broadband investment which reached almost 90,000 rural premises. However, Shannon also pointed out ongoing issues such as business connectivity problems due to halted work by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Richard Foord
Lib Dem
Honiton and Sidmouth
The internet's benefits are unevenly distributed, with rural areas having poor broadband access compared to urban areas. In Devon, fewer than half the residents of Northleigh have fast broadband, impacting crucial medical services. The universal service obligation was not explained properly to villages like Kilmington and All Saints near Axminster. Devon has an average download speed of 57 megabits per second, which is half the national average.
Sarah Dyke
Lib Dem
Glastonbury and Somerton
Access to the internet is crucial, yet rural communities face significant challenges. In Somerton and Frome, 4.6% of people have broadband speeds below the legal universal service obligation—over five times the national average—and nearly a quarter of the area lacks 5G coverage. The constituency faces issues with upcoming closures of post offices and bank branches, leaving residents reliant on unreliable broadband connectivity. Businesses in Langport suffer from poor internet speeds, hindering digital solutions usage.
Selaine Saxby
Con
North Devon
Saxby highlighted significant progress in North Devon's broadband coverage, noting that while 90.3% of constituents could access superfast broadband and 3.9% gigabit-capable in 2019, these figures are now 53.8% for gigabit-capable and 94.2% for superfast. However, she expressed concern about the remaining 5%, noting that over 1,640 properties do not meet the universal service obligation standard. She also discussed challenges faced by communities trying to connect, such as complicated installation processes and difficulties understanding new technology.
Tim Farron
Lib Dem
Westmorland and Lonsdale
Rural communities lack equal coverage for broadband and other forms of modern connectivity, putting residents at a significant disadvantage. Only one in four people aged 16 to 74 are employed as self-employed or working for themselves, with high reliance on digital access, especially during extreme weather events. Project Gigabit will not connect at least 1,000 properties within its scope, affecting farmers and those who cannot afford the connection fees. Voucher schemes could provide gigabit upload and download speeds at £33 a month through B4RN.
Government Response
John Whittingdale
Government Response
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank all hon. Members who have taken part in the debate. The fact that we have had such strong attendance is, I think, an indication of the importance that Members from across the country attach to this issue... Already today, more than 79% of premises can access gigabit-capable networks, up from 6% in January 2019. When I took up my position in May, we were at 76%, so the figures are still rising every day. Obviously, as we seek to hit the target, it becomes harder, because we are dealing with harder-to-reach premises, but the UK is building gigabit networks faster than any EU country... Our funding has already enabled gigabit connections to over 900,000 premises, and we forecast the figure to be over 1 million by the end of March next year. Of those premises, over 700,000 were classified as sub-superfast, so the vast majority of our investment is going into the communities that need it most... The Government were clear from the start that we would allow migration from copper to voice over internet protocol on full fibre only as long as we were absolutely sure that those customers who relied on copper—particularly the most vulnerable and especially those with, for instance, telecare devices—were properly protected. Unfortunately, there have been a couple of incidents in which telecare customers have found that their devices have not worked, which is completely unacceptable... Let me turn to the constituencies of hon. Members who have contributed to the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset will be aware that, according to the latest statistics, 97% of premises in West Dorset have access to superfast speeds. That is in line with the national average, but I accept that, in terms of future-proofing, we are looking to extend gigabit coverage, which still stands at only 45% in West Dorset... The situation in Tiverton and Honiton has been raised by the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Richard Foord) not just in this debate, but in the past. Again, I am conscious that there are patches in his constituency that have not been reached. We think that 230 premises do not have a broadband speed of 10 megabits per second or indoor 4G coverage, and those are obviously ones that we are concentrating on... The hon. Member for Rhondda raised the important issue of the public switched telephone network, which, as he mentioned, we also debated this morning... I want to address one or two points that other Members raised in the debate... I shall endeavour not to delay the House for too much longer because I am aware that debates are backing up—like a queue of buses or something. I want to touch on the position in Scotland, to respond to the hon. Member for Angus (Dave Doogan)... Hon. Members have also rightly touched on the importance of mobile coverage and the efforts made to extend 4G coverage... The wider issue of take-up is terribly important because, to get expressions of interest and bids from the out-net to obtain contracts under Project Gigabit will depend on being able to attract customers to take that up when it becomes available, and we are looking at other ways in which we can promote take-up. Finally, the hon. Member for Rhondda raised an issue that features quite a lot in my postbag, which is telegraph poles.
▸
Assessment & feedback
Summary accuracy
About Westminster Hall Debates
Westminster Hall debates are a chance for MPs to raise important issues affecting their constituents and get a response from a government minister. Unlike Prime Minister's Questions, these debates are more in-depth and collaborative. The MP who secured the debate speaks first, other MPs can contribute, and a minister responds with the government's position.