Rural Phone and Broadband Connectivity

David Rutley Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Jesse Norman]

That is an important point. In Herefordshire, we certainly suffer from a lack of connectivity, both road and mobile, so the hon. Gentleman makes a good point.

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

Characteristically, my hon. Friend is making an impassioned speech on behalf of rural communities. We are fortunate in Macclesfield in that some communities have received broadband in recent years, but we now need to get to the isolated villages—places such as Wincle, Wildboarclough and Kettleshulme. One thing that has not come out in his fantastic speech so far is that this affects not just businesses but school children trying to do their homework. We have to ensure that whole families and communities, not just businesses, can access the services they need.

[Jesse Norman]

That is absolutely right. We are looking at a concatenation of problems, economic and social, across all age groups.