Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 22 January 2020.
Well, thank you very much, and I have sympathy with the people of Mynachlog-ddu, because, clearly, this is a vital piece of connectivity we now all rely upon. But I repeat again to the Member that this is not a devolved matter. The UK Government has the lead responsibility for connecting people through telecommunications policies, and this is an area where they should be taking the lead, and have failed to take the lead. Now, due to that failure, we instead have stepped in, and we've made significant progress—95 per cent of people in Wales are now connected to superfast schemes, and we've diverted funding from devolved areas into this non-devolved area because of market failure and UK Government inaction. Some £200 million in total has been spent.
So, I do get a little fed up when I get letters from Conservative MPs in particular, asking what more is the Government going to do about this, when this is their own Government's responsibility that they have not discharged. I appreciate that's not the answer the Member is looking for, but it's a truth he must confront.
I did have a very good meeting on Monday with Councillor Paul Miller, the cabinet member for economy in Pembrokeshire, and clearly the local authority are taking a very active role, which I commend them for. They have appointed now a digital team, as have Carmarthenshire, which I commend. They are working with the UK Government on a bid for £4 million through the Local Full Fibre Networks programme to connect 80 public sector sites, which they then should be able to span off into private connections. And they're also looking at how they can aggregate the vouchers that are available through the creation of 88 zones, which can further connect households.
As Paul Davies has mentioned, I've announced a £10 million fund, which is specifically looking at unconventional approaches to this, because, especially in deep rural areas, getting full fibre connection direct to premises, to houses, many of which are not connected to mains gas or sewerage, is a stretch, especially if the UK Government aren't prepared to intervene. Boris Johnson, in his leadership campaign, made extravagant promises on this front and I look forward to seeing them fleshed out, because he is right to say that this is an area of digital infrastructure that really does need more attention.
But the £10 million fund is being co-produced with the local authorities, including Pembrokeshire. We hope to have those bids by April to start spending that money, and look to see how we can connect those people who have yet benefited from the intervention the Welsh Government's made when the UK Government failed to act.