(Meon Valley) (Con):...The
Minister will not be surprised that the first issue is public
transport. Bus services in rural communities have proven very
vulnerable to commercial pressures in the wake of covid. There
are issues with higher business costs, and difficulties with
recruiting and retaining drivers. Additionally, Hampshire County
Council is facing enormous financial challenges,
and this is affecting its ability to support the services that
vulnerable people depend on. As others have mentioned, there is a
lack of transport particularly for young people getting to
school, but also getting to their Saturday jobs. For instance,
going from Bishop’s Waltham to Whiteley in my constituency is
proving incredibly difficult. May I ask the Minister to look
urgently at the support for transport authorities such as
Hampshire? Hampshire County
Council is already doing as much as it can, but
budgets have steadily reduced, and there is no more fat to trim
or salami to slice.
The second priority, as others have mentioned, is broadband and
telephone. I was pleased that the Department for Digital,
Culture, Media and Sport intervened over the plans to cut off the
existing public switched telephone network as part of the digital
switchover, because like many of my constituents, I was concerned
about proper safeguards for isolated households in the event of a
power cut. May we ensure that we have a proper solution to these
issues? I would like to give an assurance to my constituents well
before any further move is made to switch off the PSTN.
However, I fully understand that the future is digital and
wireless. I was delighted that the gigabit broadband scheme is
enabling places such as Owslebury in my constituency to get up to
speed. I know there is work going on with a scheme in Cheriton
and a few other villages to help the residents there, too. It is
another area where Hampshire County
Council has provided brilliant support for
residents through its broadband voucher scheme. However, there
are still some remaining pockets of very slow speed in Meon
Valley, and I hope the procurement that DCMS is engaged in at
present can quickly bring all the benefits of better broadband to
them...
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