Employment: Rural Employment

Lord Palmer Excerpts
Wednesday 5th December 2012

(11 years, 11 months ago)

Lords Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord De Mauley Portrait Lord De Mauley
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

The noble Lord raises a very good point about broadband. I absolutely agree with him on that. The rollout of superfast broadband infrastructure is vital to boosting sustainable economic growth and creating jobs in rural areas. Online business, whether rural or urban, grow four to eight times faster than their offline counterparts. Broadband is a key government priority. We are working to deliver the best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015, backed by a £530 million government investment to support rural areas.

Lord Palmer Portrait Lord Palmer
- Hansard - -

My Lords, what estimates does the Minister have in his department for the exploration of shale gas in the countryside of the United Kingdom?

Lord De Mauley Portrait Lord De Mauley
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

My Lords, I think that that is a bit wide of the Question, but more will become clear shortly.