5. Debate on the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee report: 'Digital Infrastructure in Wales'

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:32 pm on 22 November 2017.

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Photo of Mr Simon Thomas Mr Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru 3:32, 22 November 2017

Now, I'm delighted to see that the Minister has retained her responsibility for this. Perhaps there's a bit of copper wire that's keeping her, around her ankles or something, which refuses to let her go. She will know, because she's signed many a letter to me, just how much correspondence we've had over the last few months, as we come to the end of this period. I could write her letters for her now. I mean no disrespect to her, but they contain the same paragraphs, just slightly ordered in different ways, just to break the boredom: 'We're liaising with BT'; 'There's promises that it will be completed by the end of December 2017'; 'The superfast company contract ends in December 2017, and we're not going to pay any more after that.' And then, this classic line: 'We make it clear that failure to do so will see severe financial penalties.' I'd like to understand, when the Minister replies—the Cabinet Secretary, sorry—just what the nature of those penalties are. Because I don't think my constituents are interested in penalties—they just want broadband. They want this contract delivered to them, and delivered to what has been promised.

And just to give an example, I'm afraid, because this goes a bit further than just BT and some of the, I think, rather patronising attitude that some people have towards businesses in rural areas—some idea that you should put up with second-class service, simply because you've chosen to remain in your area—the letter I quoted a little bit from there was one of the most recent I've had with the Minister, which was with regards to the sawmills in Cenarth, which was mentioned by Leanne Wood in questions to Ken Skates earlier. Again, the promise has been to deliver superfast broadband to those sawmills by the end of December. Now, the sawmills have made several million pounds of investment in equipment that is run internationally—in Belgium; that's where the headquarters of this equipment is. If something goes wrong with the equipment, they go down the line to Belgium for it to get sorted out. We could have an argument about whether that's good or bad, but that's what sawmills do; that's what sawmills all over the western world do. And I don't want that sawmill moved from the Teifi valley closer to Belgium, or closer to an internet connection. It's employing 20 to 30 people in the Teifi valley—Welsh speakers as well. It's an indigenous Welsh-owned family business.

The letter from the Minister says that she will do everything she can to deliver this. But I've got a copy of an e-mail from a Welsh Government official, and I'm afraid that reads very differently. The e-mail says, 'I'm not saying the broadband is good enough, but, just maybe, the sawmill management should have checked that before spending millions.' That's the attitude that pervades broadband connection in rural Wales, and we have to overcome that attitude and give serious attention to broadband provision and entitlement.