Digital Infrastructure, Connectivity and Accessibility

Esther McVey Excerpts

Thursday 3rd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Esther McVey (Tatton) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House notes that over one million households do not have an internet connection in the UK and 5.3 million people do not access the internet at all; further notes that repeated lockdowns as a measure against the spread of covid-19 have highlighted the urgency of achieving nationwide digital inclusion; notes that the Government’s decision to change its manifesto pledge from delivering world-class gigabit-capable broadband in 100 per cent of homes and businesses across the UK by 2025 to only 85 per cent will damage the economy and the levelling-up agenda; notes that any investment in superfast broadband without addressing the digital divide will damage social mobility; notes that digital exclusion has the biggest effect on lower-income households, increases the cost of living and widens health inequalities; believes that digital infrastructure is not a luxury resource but an essential requirement; and calls on the Government to invest in a digital catch-up scheme to support the post-covid economy, level up opportunity and lead to a fairer economy, stronger society and better lives.

I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing us to debate digital infrastructure, connectivity and accessibility today. Never has this debate been so important, so relevant and so timely—I say timely, because two days ago this House voted to extend the covid restrictions across the country. Some 99% will be in tiers 2 and 3, the strictest lockdown, and the restrictions are likely to continue for months. Having been in one form or another of covid lockdown since March, our lives have been quite literally turned online and are set to remain that way.

I also say timely because last week, among the small print of the Chancellor’s spending review, the commitment to 100% gigabit capability by 2025 was reduced, along with the financial support, which went from £5 billion to £2 billion. It is vital that today we get the original full-fibre gigabit capability manifesto commitment reinstated, because reliable online connection is not just nice to have; it is a necessity.

Even prior to the pandemic, the country’s digital infrastructure needed improving and upgrading. The National Audit Office reported that internet demand was growing at 40% a year and, according to the National Infrastructure Commission, growth would have resulted in demand’s outstripping supply for the part copper, part fibre section between 2030 and 2040. Added to that, as we all know, the coverage is very much dependent on where we live, and cities are much better than towns or rural areas. As it stands, the industry boasts that 96% of the country has at least 24-megabit capability, but that is a million miles away from where we need to be as a country, with so many people complaining that they have unreliable connectivity and slow speeds. That figure needs to be 1,000 megabits per second, not 24.

The real experience on the ground is this: in parts of Tatton and across Cheshire, constituents of mine have been informed by BT and Openreach that their properties simply do not qualify for commercial roll-out of broadband, because their homes are too far away from a cabinet and installation is too difficult and expensive to be delivered as part of the universal service offer. That means that across my constituency, broadband accessibility can vary from street to street, depending on the location of the box.

What we have seen developing in this country is a digital postcode lottery—a digital divide. Dr Helen Hosker, of Wilmslow, told me that she has “very slow broadband speeds” because her home is too far away from a cabinet. Dr Hosker, a retired general practitioner, is now struggling to work remotely for the covid clinical assessment service. As she rightly remarks:

“The current service is unlikely to support any developments with home working for myself and my neighbours. This situation will only worsen over time as reliance on technology increases. This is unacceptable when reliance on the internet has become a key part of everyday life”.

Stephen Chapman, of Knutsford, explained how over the past seven years he has had 64 visits from Openreach due to faulty broadband. Stephen highlighted the scale of the problem my constituents face when he explained that,

“there are 16 properties in our postcode that average 2MB or less,”

which has an impact on his business and his life. He says that,

“quality of life is now dependent on internet access.”

Another of my constituents, Tariq Marfani of Mobberley, an automotive and aerospace supplier, reports broadband speeds in Mobberley of, again, 2 megabits per second, which is a very long way off the gigabit connection—1,000 megabits—that the Government are striving towards. Tariq also points out that covid has brought about a shift in behaviour—not just going online, but people wanting to move out of cities to the countryside and to work remotely. Yet it is rural areas that most urgently need their digital infrastructure improved.

In fact, after I met BT last week, it revealed the latest figures, which show that only 6% of my constituents’ homes and businesses in Tatton currently have access to full-fibre broadband, and it is that full-fibre service that can provide that 1 gigabit capability and significantly improve reliability. The digital inclusion charity Good Things Foundation found that 80% of people considered digital connectivity to be a lifeline to them during lockdown. Yet, shockingly, more than 1 million households in the UK do not have an internet connection, and 5.3 million people do not have access to internet at all. Of those who do have an internet connection, Which? found that 30% said it did not meet their needs during lockdown, cutting them off from vital day-to-day services such as schooling, banking, shopping for food and getting health check-ups.

During covid and life in lockdown, as a nation we have all moved online. BT reported a 35% to 60% increase in daytime traffic. Even meetings that many of us assumed were face-to-face necessities moved online. The Health Foundation estimates that more than 700,000 patients are turning to phone and online video GP appointments. Some 1.62 million people now unemployed are using the universal credit online benefit system.

Education is increasingly delivered online; just last week, the National Education Union reported that there were 900,000 children being educated at home—one in five secondary school pupils, all needing the internet. However, with an estimated 2% of the 9 million UK households with children not having internet access, that is approximately 560,000 children whose ability to get a good education will have been disrupted during lockdown.

Being online is now crucial to everything we do—and yes, the NHS test and trace app relies on dependable broadband, too. Digital infrastructure has to be the No. 1 infrastructure project that this Government deliver, so today I am calling on them to reverse their decision to downgrade the full-fibre roll-out and instead to reprioritise it—rev it up, put the money back in the pot and deliver the full-fibre service this nation so desperately needs. The Government’s levelling-up agenda depends on nationwide digital inclusivity. If we give up on this manifesto commitment, fail to invest in our digital infrastructure and refuse to take the urgent action necessary to level up and fix the digital divide, we will be trying to deliver the levelling-up agenda with one hand held behind our back.

I applaud the Government’s commitment to a £4 billion levelling-up fund as part of the recent spending review, yet the roll-out of broadband would itself facilitate levelling up and drive forward social mobility. That money needs to go back in the broadband pot. As the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government succinctly described:

“Digital equality matters because it can help mitigate some of the deep social inequalities derived from low incomes, poor health, limited skills or disabilities”.

With broadband taking on an ever more important role in our lives, it is high time it was elevated to the status of utility and that we removed any impediments to delivering this essential service to the country.

I fully support the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill, which recognises that broadband is as essential as water or electricity. Recognising broadband as a utility means that all new homes will automatically be built with superfast internet. Furthermore, telecoms providers will be permitted to install broadband in pre-existing premises in the same way that a water provider would be permitted to install water pipes.

As we recover from this pandemic, lifted by the news of a vaccine, we need to be lifted by the news of the reinstatement of the full-fibre roll-out, too, which will provide all sorts of desperately needed jobs as we seek to recover from the covid recession. More than 10,000 jobs could be created in delivering the infrastructure, and once it was rolled out, it could create 1.2 million skilled jobs by 2025, which could add more than £59 billion to the economy by 2025.

The UK has lagged behind European neighbours and much of the world in its fibre coverage. It is time to drive this agenda forward as the UK sets forth as an independent sovereign state. Digital connectivity is no longer a luxury or even a priority. Digital connectivity must be our No. 1 priority. I appreciate that money is tight, but this needs to be the country’s top infrastructure project. I can tell the Minister that my constituents would prioritise this over High Speed 2 any day of the week.

These are my questions for the Minister. Does he agree that this must be the country’s No. 1 infrastructure project? If not, what is? Can he confirm that digital infrastructure will obtain utility status? Will he meet me and the Blue Collar Conservativism group to ensure that the £3.8 billion removed from the full fibre delivery pot is put back in, so that the 2025 commitment can be reintroduced?

[Several hon. Members rose—]

--- Later in debate ---

[Esther McVey]

In the time I have left to me, I thank once again the Backbench Business Committee for allowing us to have the debate and the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott) for working so closely with me to ensure that the debate happened. We can see from the number of Members who attended how important this issue is to everybody, for a whole host of reasons. We had excellent speeches about the differences between city and rural, about inclusion and about levelling up. It really was important that everybody was here today.

I mention in particular the Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Solihull (Julian Knight) and I hope that his being here and speaking will mean that this is a recurrent theme in that Committee until we get what we want. I thank the Minister, too, who I know is a champion for digital infrastructure and inclusion and an expert in this area. I am delighted that he said that digital infrastructure was high on the priorities—higher, much higher, than High Speed 2—so my only concern is that while the money tumbles for digital infrastructure, the money for High Speed 2 goes through the roof, and that must be changed.

I do hope that the Minister is strengthened—maybe even fortified—by the debate that we have had today, so that he will go back to the Chancellor with us all behind him and get that £5 billion back into this pot, where it deserves to be and to have it delivered by 2025—