Extract from Wales Assembly questions to the First Minister: Broadband Services - Oct 9

Wednesday, 10 October 2018 08:20

Paul Davies AM:...This contract should have been in place at the beginning of this year, and whilst we are still waiting, schoolchildren like Grug Williams have to be driven a mile away from their homes near Gwytherin in Conwy to find a signal to download school work. Let me also remind the First Minister that the annual NFU broadband and mobile survey also showed that two thirds of NFU members asked in Wales said that they were not able to access sufficient...Request free trial

Paul Davies AM:...This contract should have been in place at the beginning of this year, and whilst we are still waiting, schoolchildren like Grug Williams have to be driven a mile away from their homes near Gwytherin in Conwy to find a signal to download school work. Let me also remind the First Minister that the annual NFU broadband and mobile survey also showed that two thirds of NFU members asked in Wales said that they were not able to access sufficient broadband speeds, which has a significant impact on their ability to do business effectively and efficiently. So, with that in mind, First Minister, and in light of the very serious impact that the lack of adequate broadband provision is having on Welsh communities, will you now apologise for failing to meet your 2011 Assembly manifesto commitment? Will you also apologise to those people living without a decent broadband service in Wales for your Government's failure to properly deal with this issue?

Carwyn Jones AM (First Minister of Wales): First of all, mobile technology is certainly not devolved. That is something the UK Government should be ensuring rolls out across the whole—[Interruption.] Let me explain, then. There's a difference between mobile technology and broadband. He said mobile and broadband. Mobile is not devolved. Mobile phone technology and reception is a matter for the UK Government. The reason why we have relatively poor coverage around the UK is because of the model that was adopted for mobile coverage in the first place. Too much money was being paid to the UK Government and not enough money was then available to actually invest in the infrastructure.

When it comes to broadband, he sits there as somebody from a party with no policy on this. I've seen no policy at all. We have delivered for the people of Wales in many, many communities up and down Wales a broadband service that otherwise they would never, ever have had. I speak to businesses all around Wales that are able to access it. He raised the 2011 manifesto. He raised the issue of school broadband. There is one promise that I know the people of Wales are delighted the Conservatives never had the opportunity to implement from their 2011 manifesto, and that was the 20 per cent cut in education funding that they keep on forgetting about.