Oral Answers to Questions

Lee Anderson Excerpts

Thursday 20th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Imran Ahmad Khan (Wakefield) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to improve digital infrastructure and connectivity in rural areas.

[Lee Anderson (Ashfield) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to improve digital infrastructure and connectivity in rural areas.

[Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)]

What progress his Department has made on the roll-out of gigabit broadband.

--- Later in debate ---

[Matt Warman]

It is good to see that working from home can provide a grander backdrop than this place. My hon. Friend is right to welcome the shared rural network. The roll-out has already started to benefit a large number of constituencies. It began in Wales and we will be talking in the coming weeks in much more detail about where it is going to benefit in coming years.

[Lee Anderson]

Residents in the rural part of Ashfield suffer from a lack of access to superfast broadband and feel that accessing it through the community fibre partnership scheme is far too expensive. When will areas such as Teversal in my constituency get access to this much-needed service?

[Matt Warman]

My hon. Friend is right to say that community fibre partnerships, although they work well in some places, do not work well everywhere. That is why Project Gigabit is so important; that £5 billion of Government money will be coming down the tracks very quickly. We published plans in April and there will be more detail in June, and Ashfield certainly will not be left behind.