Oral Answers to Questions

Liz Twist Excerpts

Thursday 29th June 2017 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

I shall be delighted to do so, and I would be happy to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency to see some of the excellent work that he has been doing with the tourism sector.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

7. What steps her Department is taking to ensure that digital infrastructure meets the needs of the economy.

[The Minister for Digital (Matt Hancock)]

May I welcome the hon. Lady to the House? Some 93.2% of premises in the country now have access to superfast broadband, and we are on track to deliver access to 95% by the end of the year. Our universal service obligation will ensure that every premises can have access to high-speed broadband by 2020.

[Liz Twist]

Slow and poor-quality broadband is seriously hampering a number of businesses in my constituency, from rural Rowlands Gill to the industrialised Tees Valley trading estate, as I am sure it is in other Members’ constituencies. What plans do the Government have to ensure that 100% of areas have access to high-speed, high-quality broadband?

[Matt Hancock]

I absolutely understand the frustration of people running businesses in the hon. Lady’s constituency and others. Getting access to high-speed broadband up to over 93% has been a big and positive task, but we clearly want to make it available to all premises in the country. That is why we legislated for the universal service obligation, and I look forward to ensuring that it happens.