Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:16 pm on 30 January 2018.
It may be that just people assume that we're part of the twenty-first century, so I'm not sure that I'm with the leader of the house there. Progress that has been made absolutely should be welcomed, and I do sense in the leader of the house's statement an acceptance, though, that there is a great feeling of anger and injustice among many individuals and many communities that I and other honourable Members represent. That's a tragedy in a way because this technology, which was meant to lead to the death of distance—actually, to lessen the disadvantage that rural communities face—has actually exacerbated it. It was not meant to be that way. That's what this statement has to be about addressing now. So, can I ask—I welcome, obviously, the rural delivery plan that she's suggested—has she considered, given the broken promises that unfortunately were a constant feature of Superfast Cymru, the introduction of penalty clauses in that contract should those kinds of promises be broken in future?
She mentioned Ceredigion and Powys, where certainly there is a lot more work to be done, but can I also ask her as well to put on the record that other areas of Wales—Carmarthenshire, my own constituency, has one of the lowest superfast connections of all of Wales—will also be covered?
She mentioned the—she said as well that we cannot promise that all premises in Wales will even be connected as a result of these interventions, so can she give us a figure—a percentage? Are we talking about 0.1 per cent or less than 0.1 per cent?
She mentioned the 2,500 properties that Openreach have promised to do further work on because of the appalling position where constituents—and I have and other Members have seen their coiled-up cables outside their doors sometimes and yet they can't get a connection—can she give us any information on where those 2,500 properties are going to be located, when will we know, and will she be able to influence the choice of where that further investment is made?
And finally, she mentioned there are three packages: rural delivery, ultrafast and business premises. Can I urge her, rather than doing rural at the end of the line this first time, could we have the ultrafast investment focused in areas, in post-industrial communities, in the northern Valleys and elsewhere in rural Wales, so that those areas actually are the test beds rather than that investment of the next wave always happening in urban areas that actually already have a better connection?