2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:15 pm on 20 March 2018.

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Photo of Joyce Watson Joyce Watson Labour 3:15, 20 March 2018

Leader of the house, I'm afraid you're not getting away from broadband because my question comes from correspondence that I've received from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. They've brought to my attention a lack of broadband at their St David's Head station.

They assure me that it's the only RNLI station in the whole of the UK without broadband. A fast, reliable service, as you can imagine, is vital to getting a lifeboat to those who need it, when they need it. At the moment, the launch of the lifeboat can be unreliable due to poor radio links, particularly in bad weather, when, of course, a lifeboat is most likely to be needed. The RNLI inform me that they're in the process of updating their launch system in St David's, but reliable broadband is critical. It seems that they've fallen off the end of the system that has been hugely successful, but in this case, is completely missing.

So, I suppose my question is: would you have a word with the Cabinet Secretary responsible for broadband—that is yourself—and talk and engage BT in some talks about installing broadband, in whichever way they do it, to this lifeboat station in St David's, so that it isn't the only RNLI station without broadband in the UK?