Patrick Hurley

We understand concerns about the deployment of telegraph poles. We want operators to share infrastructure and use existing underground ducts, wherever possible.

Where the original infrastructure was buried without ducts, or existing infrastructure is not useable, new infrastructure must be built, and underground ducts are significantly more expensive than poles.

On 16 August, I wrote to broadband operators asking them to share infrastructure wherever possible and expressing support for their work revising the Cabinet and Pole Siting Code of Practice. I will shortly be meeting them to understand their infrastructure sharing plan, to express our concerns and to ensure community views are taken into account.

The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport does not hold this information centrally. The National Piers Society can be contacted for further information on this matter at https://piers.org.uk/

As of 10 July 2024, there were 12 open dentistry practices in the Southport constituency, four of which were showing as ‘accepting new adult patients when availability allows’. This data is sourced from the Find a Dentist website, and is matched to constituencies based on the postcode data shown on the website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-Dentist