Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:52 pm on 22 November 2017.
And everybody was still listening and we didn't want to stop him. Nobody was interested in stopping Mr Taylor because he was an inspiration, and his story was fantastic. He was an inspiration, and I think, as a committee, we just felt every community needs a Mr Taylor. [Interruption.] Did you hear Mr Taylor? [Laughter.]
I have to say that I certainly air my frustrations to the Cabinet Secretary on the roll-out on a regular basis, and I often think that I write more e-mails to the Cabinet Secretary than anybody else, but I've got the feeling this afternoon that there are many other Members in that boat as well. But I have to say I am pleased that Julie James has retained responsibility in this area, because I have to say she has a great knowledge in this area and, clearly, the First Minister had this in mind when he had his Cabinet reshuffle; he obviously didn't want to take that responsibility from her—he couldn't find anybody else who was willing to take it on, perhaps. [Laughter.] But I do feel that the Cabinet Secretary has also been very open with us. She often says publicly—she airs her own frustrations about BT, and also I know that the Cabinet Secretary's been very busy touring Wales, up and down, meeting communities. I said to the Cabinet Secretary, 'How many can I get? What's the limit?', and in fairness, she said, 'However many you want. That's fine—get them all around the table.' So, I made sure I got the biggest possible table I could find. I think I managed to get 60 people around the table, but credit to the Cabinet Secretary who was willing to face a room of angry people and face them out.
But, yes, communication I think has been absolutely diabolical, I have to say. It's terrible. I know at times I've been here myself standing in this position with two letters from the then Minister to the same constituent—one saying one thing and the other, a month later, saying something else. It's really frustrating when all people want to know is when they're going to get connected. And if they aren't going to get connected, they want to know they're not going to get a connection so they can look at other solutions. But I'm grateful at least that the Cabinet Secretary has accepted that issue.
I thank Members who took part in this debate today and Members who also took part in our deliberations in our committee, some of whom have now left the committee after being elevated to Government—thank you for your contribution as well. Also, if I could also thank the committee clerking team and the integrated team because this has been a difficult piece of work because, as soon as the teams start to draft that report, based on the committee's and the Members' direction, then things change and technology changes and Ministers make statements during that drafting. So, it has been a difficult task for them and there were quite a lot of technical issues that were also coming up in detail. So, I think credit to them as well in that regard.
I look forward to the day when we have a debate in this Chamber when we are having a debate on 100 per cent of Wales being able to receive superfast broadband, good speeds and everyone is able to get a good mobile signal on their phones. I look forward to that day. Thank you to all who took part in the debate today.