Oral Answers to Questions

James Davies Excerpts

Wednesday 21st February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Trudy Harrison (Copeland) (Con)]

6. What steps her Department is taking to improve rural connectivity.

[Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd) (Con)]

8. What steps her Department is taking to improve rural connectivity.

--- Later in debate ---

[Julia Lopez]

My hon. Friend’s constituency has very low gigabit connectivity, partly because its geography makes connections very expensive. That is why we launched one of our very first contracts in Cumbria. Some 15,000 premises are going to be connected across Copeland, and we are trying to stretch the contract as far as it will go. For premises that will not be reached, we will look at other technologies so that we can get to them as quickly as possible.

[Dr James Davies]

I work closely with Philip Burrows, Denbighshire’s excellent digital officer. He tells me that Openreach can still impose significant excess charges to connect properties that are declared enabled for fibre. In those instances, people are unable to claim via the gigabit voucher scheme. Will my hon. Friend outline what steps she is taking to address this matter?

[Julia Lopez]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the experience of Mr Burrows, who sounds like a very experienced officer. I would like to hear a bit more detail, because it sounds like the properties he cites have access to a fibre connection and would not be eligible for a voucher. I would like to know a bit more about the excess charges so that we can deal with any problems.