Business of the House

Alison Hume Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend has been an ardent campaigner on cleaning up our waterways, and I pay tribute to him for that. I join him in congratulating Mark, Karl and everyone involved in the community initiative to which he refers on giving their time in service to cleaning up their local community.

[Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)]

The TV drama “Heartbeat”, featuring a policeman based in 1960s “Aidensfield” delighted millions of viewers, so it is slightly ironic that, in 2026, residents in the real village, Goathland, cannot make emergency calls during power cuts, as their mobile phone mast has no battery. As EE has told me that it has no plans to install one, will the Leader of the House arrange a meeting between me, the relevant Minister and EE to help ensure that my citizens can make 999 calls that actually connect?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

My hon. Friend raises a really important matter, because access to emergency services is a vital lifeline for our communities. There are statutory obligations on communications providers to ensure that their networks and services remain available. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport works with industry and Ofcom to ensure that learning from significant outages are captured and assessed. Ministers from DCMS will have heard her concerns today, but I will also point out that on Wednesday 18 November there is a Westminster Hall debate on connectivity in rural areas.