Julie Minns
Main Page: Julie Minns (Labour - Carlisle)Department Debates - View all Julie Minns's debates with the Leader of the House
(3 days, 14 hours ago)
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Lucy Powell
We support the Darlington-Stockton railway, and I thank my hon. Friend for raising that as we mark 200 years of its existence. We will support him in every way we can.
Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)
One reason that parts of my rural north Cumbria constituency are not served by fixed broadband is that the per-metre charge to access Openreach�s ducts and poles makes it prohibitively expensive to roll out broadband by other providers. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on the costs of rolling out rural broadband, in particular the charges for physical infrastructure access?
Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend is right that access to digital broadband is vital�it is now the fourth utility for many people�but in rural communities it remains patchy. Despite the previous Government making money available, digital broadband has been too slow to roll out and to get to her constituents, and this Government are taking steps to speed that up.