Item 6 is next, and that's the debate on the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee Report, 'Digital connectivity—broadband'. I call on the Chair of the committee to move the motion. Llyr Gruffydd.

Motion NDM8123 Llyr Gruffydd

To propose that the Senedd:

Notes the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee report: ‘Digital connectivity—broadband’, laid on 1 August 2022.

Motion moved.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. I'm delighted to open this debate in the name of the committee. First of all I'd like to thank all of those stakeholders who contributed to the committee's work, and I'm also very pleased that the Minister has accepted all of the committee's recommendations.

As a committee, our starting point is that everyone in Wales should be able to access fast broadband. More and more of our lives are lived online—that's how we make appointments; we manage our bank accounts online, many of us; we talk to friends and family online too. And living without access to the internet means a life that is less rich, with less choice, and, very importantly, less access to essential services. And I can speak from personal experience—my children live in a home where there is no broadband worth speaking of. That then has implications in terms of using educational resources, their reliance on paper-based resources, which are far less exciting, and so on, and so forth. So, you can see how the inability to access broadband has a very practical impact on the lives of many people. And unfortunately, the provision of superfast broadband across Wales is uneven, and there is a digital divide between rural and urban areas, particularly. Too many rural areas are still unable to access a decent internet connection.

Because of the mountainous Welsh topography, that does mean that a higher proportion of properties are difficult to reach in Wales, compared with other parts of the UK. Ofcom estimates that around 10,000 premises cannot get decent broadband in Wales—that's 10,000 premises. The situation has improved significantly—and we must acknowledge that—in recent years. The Welsh Government has invested considerable funding in this policy area. As a result of the original Superfast Cymru scheme, which ran from 2012 to 2018, an investment of £220 million was invested to connect about 700,000 premises to superfast broadband. But this is a reserved policy area, and, put simply, it's not sustainable for the Welsh Government to continue redirecting funding from devolved areas to plug funding gaps that are the UK Government's responsibility. The Deputy Minister for Climate Change told us as a committee, and I quote:

'UK funding has failed to reflect the true cost of deploying in the Welsh landscape'.

And I agree entirely with that statement. We need to tackle that funding shortfall. I'm pleased that the Minister has accepted our recommendation as a committee on this issue, but I’m not particularly hopeful that there will be a change of heart from the UK Government on this—we'll see.

So, how do we reach that last 0.6 per cent of properties that can’t access decent broadband? Well, since March 2020, households that can’t get decent broadband can request an upgrade for their connection from BT under the universal service obligation. This obliges BT to improve the connection free of charge if the installation cost is estimated to be below £3,400 for the customer. But if the cost is greater than that cap of £3,400, then the customer must pay the excess. That's not affordable for most people—particularly in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis—and we as a committee have urged the Welsh Government to discuss raising the level of that cap with the UK Government.

In 2020, the National Infrastructure Commission called for the establishment of a barrier-busting task force, to improve the roll-out of digital infrastructure. We supported this as a committee, and I am pleased that the Minister was able to announce last week that the taskforce’s report was being published. We look forward to hearing from the Minister, as he responds to this debate this afternoon, about the conclusions and recommendations of the taskforce, and perhaps he could explain the next steps in terms of acting upon it.

Some contributors suggested making full-fibre connectivity a requirement in all new housing developments. We support that suggestion and believe that the Welsh Government should explore how such a requirement can be introduced in Wales. We were interested to hear also that housing developers are considering digital connectivity when they are planning developments. Indeed, one developer has established its own internet service provider. In one sense, that's a positive step, but we are a little concerned that there is a potential there for developers to tie in homeowners in this way to the provision that they make, excluding all others. This could potentially restrict the choice available to homeowners and make the market less competitive. We have asked the Welsh Government to keep this under review to ensure that there are no inappropriate developments in this area. 

The Deputy Presiding Officer (David Rees) took the Chair.

One of our main concerns was, and is, digital inclusion. Although more and more people can access superfast broadband, the cost of access will often be a barrier for many, particularly again during a cost-of-living crisis. There is a risk that broadband access will become a luxury that many will not be able to afford. So, what can be done? Several broadband providers offer lower-cost social tariffs to eligible households. But committee members were shocked that so few take up these social tariffs. Only 3.2 per cent of eligible households are on a social tariff. Now that is woefully low; indeed, it is disgraceful.

Enrolling on social tariffs must be a clearer and simpler process. Consideration should even be given to automatically enrolling eligible households. That's certainly an option, and I'm pleased that the UK Government, since then, has taken steps to make it easier for people to register for social tariffs. I do hope they will have a positive impact. In his response to our report, the Minister has said that officials in the Welsh Government’s digital inclusion unit are exploring ways to raise awareness of social tariffs. I welcome that, and certainly as a committee, we want to see more people benefiting from what they are entitled to.

Migration from landlines to voice over internet protocol was a major concern for groups representing consumers. Many of us, as local Members, will have been involved with this issue. There are potentially significant issues for the most vulnerable people in our society arising as a result of that proposed change. They may be living in a remote or rural area with limited internet access. We are pleased, of course, that the process of migration has been paused, and we have asked the Welsh Government to report back to us as a committee on this issue.

The Welsh Government may wish to consider the approach taken in Scotland, which has, for over five years, had a national programme to support the migration from analogue to digital, specifically for people using telecare and remote health monitoring. Scotland also has a digital telecare roadmap, to support the migration for those most at risk. I would be grateful if the Minister would reflect on these proposals and, if he is not able to respond to them today, that he does provide a written update to us on these issues in due course. 

In conclusion, therefore, Dirprwy Lywydd, I would like to thank the stakeholders who contributed to our work, and to the Minister for his constructive response to our report. There has been significant progress over recent years towards increasing broadband access. We are now down to the last 0.6 per cent—that last 0.6 per cent—and new technologies are becoming available that should make that last push more achievable and, hopefully, more affordable too. But there is no doubt that Government support is needed for these properties. The UK Government must take into account the particular needs of Wales in designing and creating its next funding packages. We cannot redirect funding from devolved areas.

But the most significant challenge for many in society at the moment, of course, will be the cost of access itself. For many, the cost of broadband will be too much and they will be locked out of so many of the services that are accessible online, so many that we take for granted. Access to those will not be available to far too many people in Wales.  

I thank our Chairman for his comments just now. I'm really pleased to see that the Welsh Government has accepted all 10 of the main recommendations contained within our committee's report on digital connectivity. I strongly welcome all efforts made to improve digital connectivity, but the committee report does go on to ask questions about the Welsh Government's overall strategy to ensure that we have a digitally connected Wales.

The report notes that, in 2014, 55 per cent of residential premises could access broadband at speeds of 30 Mbps or higher, compared to 75 per cent across the UK. By 2021, this figure had increased to 94 per cent against a UK average of 96 per cent. So, I'm pleased to see the progress, but, as has been eloquently pointed out, we all know areas within our own regions or constituencies where people are really receiving painfully slow broadband.

More and more, people now are wanting to download films, youngsters are wanting to do their homework, so it really is—. It's been classed, hasn't it, as a utility now. It's the fourth utility. I strongly concur with those points. Certainly, in rural isolated communities, it's imperative that people have not just some broadband, but fast broadband.  

In particular, the number of Welsh households receiving broadband speeds of 100 'megadoodahs' or faster stands at just 46 per cent in Wales, versus 66 per cent across the UK. Similarly, the number of Welsh households receiving broadband speeds of 300 Mbps or faster stands at just 44 per cent in Wales, versus 65 per cent across the UK. So, we want to level up the broadband here. 

I strongly support the establishment of the barrier-busting taskforce mentioned within the report to consider ways to improve the roll-out of digital infrastructure learning from the most successful local examples and ensuring that developers and authorities work together in a true public-private partnership, as highlighted by Ogi in their submission.

I note in your response that you accepted the committee's recommendation that you engage with the UK Government on the development of new public initiatives to ensure that they do meet the particular needs of Wales and that the Welsh Government should report back on progress within the next six months. I look forward to that reporting back as scheduled.

I also note with interest the Welsh Government's engagement with the calls from DCMS for evidence on connecting very hard-to-reach premises, and we've all got those, for which there will be a further chance to provide a formal response to an anticipated consultation on this issue later this year. So, I do hope that the Minister commits to working with the Secretary of State for culture, Michelle Donelan MP, the Right Honourable, to make sure that all levels of Government are working together to implement the recommendations of the committee's report. Because, ultimately, we are one united nation and we perform best when we do work together as Governments to solve these complex problems. 

This is an issue of vital importance to my constituents in Aberconwy, as those facing connectivity problems are disproportionately likely to be elderly or to be living in rural or remote communities. According to research conducted by the National Federation of Women's Institutes Wales, over 50 per cent of respondents from rural areas did not feel that the internet that they had access to was either fast or reliable, and 66 per cent stated that they or their household had been impacted by poor broadband. Fifty-seven per cent of those from a rural area described the mobile signal in their house as unreliable, and 49 per cent of those—

Will the Member take an intervention?

Yes, sure.

I'm listening with great interest to your contribution. The numbers that you're reading out are an extraordinary indictment of the United Kingdom Government and their failure to deliver on what is a reserved matter. Will you be joining us in supporting the Welsh Government in telling the UK Government it's time to pull their finger out and actually remember that Wales is a part of this UK and we deserve the same services as they deliver on the other side of the border?

Well, I beg to differ with my colleague from over on those benches there, but, actually, the UK Government, over the years, has provided significant resources, and the actual roll-out has been the responsibility of the Welsh Government. So, let's put the blame where the blame lies—

It's a non-devolved function.

No, I'm sorry—[Interruption.] I'm allowed a little bit of extra time.

Let the Member conclude. She has half a minute left to conclude her contribution.

It's a non-devolved function; [Inaudible.]—spend money on it.

This report was on behalf of our committee in this Welsh Parliament about the ability of this Welsh Government to deliver on its promises in terms of broadband. They've actually accepted all recommendations. That tells me, and it tells everybody out there, that that work needs to be done, and that the Welsh Government is failing. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you to the committee for all of its work on this issue. I'm not sure whether the previous speaker had read the report in its entirety.

The recommendations in the committee's report and the positive response from Welsh Government are very welcome. We only need to look back as recently as lockdown to see how important it is to have sufficient access to broadband. It was one of the very few avenues many of us had to avoid isolation and stay connected to friends and loved ones. The pandemic forced us to ask questions on how we best bring resources to bear on pressing societal challenges, and I was very recently reminded of this when I visited Bridgend College's Pencoed campus. Several students recounted their lockdown experiences there and how their lack of access to decent broadband and hardware, such as laptops, meant that they fell behind on school work, or had to use their mobile data. One student told me how she had practically missed out on a year's worth of education because of her Wi-Fi being so poor.

In the age of digital literacy and connectivity, communities without access to the internet are at an overall disadvantage, not only socially, but also in terms of education and employability. This is especially so since the pandemic, with more jobs being offered remotely. Remote working affords people the chance to work from home, remain in their communities, contribute to local economies and, ultimately, remain in Wales, but it isn't possible for everyone. In light of this, the Welsh Government's acceptance of all the committee's recommendations is heartening. That said, it is still concerning that, according to digital inclusion research from the Welsh Government, 7 per cent of adults are not online. The same research shows that this inequality feeds into and has the potential to exacerbate wider inequality. So, for example, those who are digitally excluded are some of the biggest users of health and social care services, and therefore risk being left behind when it comes to digital-by-default services. Ofcom also estimates that around 10,000, or 0.6 per cent of premises in Wales cannot get a decent broadband service of at least 10 Mbps per second downloading speed, and 1 Mbps per second upload speed. I look forward to seeing any progress on ensuring that this final 1 per cent of people have access to decent broadband, as recommended by the committee. 

We need to engrain the idea that, today, the internet is far from a luxury; it is a necessary and enabling service and something that everyone must be able to have access to in a modern society. Older people, those living with disabilities, the unemployed and low waged, those living in rural areas and many other groups of people are all at risk of being left behind. While I'm aware that several broadband providers offer lower cost social tariffs to eligible households, uptake of these is minimal. As we've already heard, only 3.2 per cent of households receiving universal credit are on a social tariff, as of September 2022. And, as I mentioned in the Chamber recently, I believe that it is incumbent on Government to ensure that people are aware of what support is available to them.

But it is safe to say that the UK Government has been failing us here in Wales in this reserved area of competency, making us spend the millions on infrastructure and other areas where they should have been investing to ensure that everyone has access to adequate broadband. That's money spent by the Welsh Government where it shouldn't have to be spent, and money we could have invested elsewhere, had the UK Government been investing properly. That's money that could have gone towards helping struggling families during the cost-of-living crisis, for example. This is quite simply not good enough. We deserve better. Our communities, which are currently without connection, deserve better. This is one of the reasons that I am a vocal advocate of universal basic services. It is certainly my hope that, over the course of the coming years and decades, our vision of what services should be universally available will continue to expand and come to encompass a service such as universal basic broadband.

Urgent action is needed to ensure that no community, no business and no household is left behind to prevent inequality. A Women's Institute survey found that over 50 per cent of respondents from a rural area did not feel that their internet was fast and reliable, and 66 per cent stated that they or their household had been impacted by poor broadband. They had difficulties in obtaining information, contacting providers and knowing what funding is available. So, we need to make every contact count, perhaps adding it to the cost-of-living grant support available.

Service providers need to play their role and commit to improving communication with their customers about the services available, accessing social tariffs. Going forward, for broadband infrastructure to be cost effective, it will need to be designed comprehensively, with long-term benefits in mind that serve everyone, including those in rural areas. In Liverpool, a joint venture project has been championed by Liverpool city metro mayor, Steve Rotheram. This partnership means that public investment gives the authority a stake in the organisation, and in turn, rather than profitability being the only concern, social benefit is also at the heart of the broadband project. And the public can continue to reap the benefits for years to come. Such a joint venture project would be in the interests of the Welsh public. So, it would be good if officials and Ministers would be willing to investigate such an option to dynamically drive forward digital connectivity in north Wales and the rest of Wales, which is currently happening on a very piecemeal, very slow, basis.

Given the various statements in the report on digital connectivity stressing that the solutions required to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban areas require a mix of fixed and fibre wireless access, it’s pleasing that the Welsh Government has had the foresight to support the Bangor University digital signal processing initiative to provide such a hybrid solution on Anglesey, and I hope that this will be successfully rolled out. A member of the consortium was told by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport—the UK Government department—that it would be another two years before north Wales would see any investment, as other areas were a priority for the UK Government’s £5 billion infrastructure fund. So, we need to keep pushing for it to happen now, and for it to happen in Wales, and not make it a low priority for the UK Government.

Could the Minister please reinforce the Government’s desire to push the initiative forward in Anglesey to the delivery phase as soon as possible? It reflects the most up-to-date thinking in terms of the solutions required to provide digital connectivity and services to the most challenging rural locations, so that it could be rolled out across Wales—north and mid Wales.

In addition, can we ensure that we utilise to the maximum any existing fibre and mass platforms to minimise the cost of deployment, and so avoiding the unnecessary risk of funding duplicate infrastructure, with the aim of providing an open access network platform for any carrier to provide services to our rural communities? I’m told that there is dark fibre openly available that is Welsh Government owned and was installed with European funding a while ago, and that not all providers are using or promoting this—or may be aware of it, preferring to draw down more public funding to install their network. That needs investigating.

With more reliance on online communication for health, employment, business grants and education, we need more decent broadband connectivity for people. And I agree that it should be recognised as an essential service. Thank you.

Thank you to the committee, ably chaired by my colleague Llyr Gruffydd here, for this report. It's a report that is particularly relevant to Dwyfor Meirionnydd. I want to focus specifically on the section that mentions connecting those who have been left behind. I must express my great disappointment in the rather dismissive attitude of some providers and others in the field towards the 1 per cent, or indeed more, of people who cannot and will not be able to access the internet. There is mention made of using other technologies, such as mobile phones or satellites, but this demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of our rural communities. Look at Dwyfor Meirionnydd; there is no access to phone signal in many parts, and getting a satellite connection is either impossible due to the mountainous terrain or is more costly and less dependable.

There are businesses in Islawr-dref near Dolgellau, for example, that have tried their best to get an internet connection, but the costs they face are in the tens of thousands of pounds. One business owner and their family are now looking to move to Shrewsbury due to this failure to access the internet and their ensuing inability to run their business. There is a family in Cwm Pennant who are key workers and have to work from home, and while every home nearby has received an internet connection—every one of which is a holiday home or summer home, by the way—they haven’t been able to connect, and they have received a quote for over £74,000 to install the relevant infrastructure. As a family who've lived in that place for several generations, they now have to look to move out of the area.

The community in Brithdir has successfully come together to make up the necessary numbers to receive vouchers so that BT can install the infrastructure there, but despite repeated attempts for a year and more, they are still waiting for the work to be completed, years later. I was in Criccieth last week, and businesses there are losing money because there are significant issues with the phone mast providing a signal to the payment terminals in shops and businesses, with local workers such as builders dependent on the same phone signal to undertake their business too. The whole thing has been down since 18 October, and no response has been made and there is no sign of repairs being made. This is the reality of life in a rural community. And as you can see, these problems, be they related to the internet or phone signal, are common in the areas that we represent, and the way that the major corporations and providers disregard and ignore them is entirely appalling.

So, as my colleagues Luke Fletcher and Carolyn Thomas said, internet access is one of the basic requirements of life in the modern age. Yes, it sounds strange, but it’s true. It is vital, for example, for school work, farming, running a business in terms of sales and marketing, keeping in touch with others and so on. All of us here, I’m sure, is reliant on WhatsApp to keep in touch and share information. If we’re dependent on this work and on this technology, then the same is true of the people we represent in our rural communities. All of us here film items to be posted on the internet, for example, and people in our communities do the same. Children talk to each other; they ask whether they’ve seen the most recent Netflix programme or YouTube, have they seen PewDiePie on YouTube and so on, and the children in Cwm Pennant and so on say, ‘No, I’m afraid I haven’t seen that programme’, and they’re bullied or they’re excluded from conversations.

So, recommendation 3 in this excellent report is crucial, but I’d like to suggest that the Government should not give Openreach a monopoly going forward. That experiment has let down too many of our communities and has given too much of Wales’s public funding to one major external corporation. That experiment has failed. Instead, local co-operative providers and companies should be promoted, learning from the good practice of companies such as Guifi in Catalunya, HSLnet in the Netherlands or B4RN in Lancashire. That is the way ahead. Thank you very much.

Like others, I want to thank the committee for this report and for this short investigation. I thought the points made by the committee Chair in opening this debate were well made, and established a very clear group of findings, which I’m glad the Welsh Government has responded to. But the reality is that we need the UK Government to respond to this as well. And I'm participating in this debate because I’ve listened to the contributions this afternoon, and many have focused on the needs of rural Wales, describing this as an issue facing rural areas. But I have to tell you, it isn’t. This is not about rural communities. This is about some of our most densely populated urban areas as well. If you go to parts of Cardiff, you have some significant issues with lack of access to sufficiently fast broadband speeds. And in my constituency in Blaenau Gwent, you have a number of different parts of the community that simply cannot access the broadband speeds they require to participate in aspects of modern life, as you've described, Mabon, but also the businesses that operate there are unable to access markets because they simply cannot match the broadband speeds that other parts of the UK are able to do.

So, this isn't about rural Wales versus urban Wales—this is about a failure of the UK system to deliver for the whole of Wales. This is why I think this report is so important. The Welsh Government has invested over the years. I remember speaking to Ministers over a long period of time now about the need to invest in broadband, in different sorts of broadband, over the years, but let's be absolutely clear where the failure lies here, and the failure lies with a UK system that simply does not deliver for Wales. It is a failure of the market. The market is not delivering the sorts of broadband speeds and connectivity that people require. It is a failure of regulation, because the regulator isn't ensuring that the market delivers. And finally, it is a failure of Government, because the Government is allowing the regulation to fail.

So, it's a failure of the system. And I'm going to help out Janet Finch-Saunders now, if she—. Here we go, got her attention. Because this isn't simply a failure of the current Conservative Government, but it is. It was also a failure under previous Labour Governments, and the system that was set up by the Blair Government, of Ofcom and the rest of it, had in its roots failure, because it focused on the—[Interruption.] I will allow you to intervene, just allow me to finish the sentence; we'll do a deal on that, surely. Ofcom was established to look at the rights and responsibilities of consumers, and not the rights of citizens, and it was that debate that I believe was lost when Ofcom was being established 20 years ago. I give way. 

I was just going to say: will the Member at least recognise that we do have devolution, and, in instances where you have a situation like this, significant sums of money have come from the UK Government? So, some of those failings that you indicate, you can't blame them, when they've gone on and rolled out their broadband very quickly indeed. If there are any delays in the rolling of it out here, you cannot deny the millions of pounds—

Janet, Janet, Janet, don't—

Can you deny the millions of pounds that have come in here from the UK Government? 

I don't deny anything; I don't need to. It's a failure I'm describing. It's not about expenditure; it's about delivering on the objectives of policy, and that is where the failure lies. And you don't need to defend everything the UK does. Sometimes, it fails, and this is an example of failure, and it isn't just Government failure, as I've said to you—it's market failure, and a failure of regulation. And the power of your argument is greater when you recognise that, and don't simply try to defend everything, no matter how dreadful it actually is. I recognise the work that this Minister is doing, and I recognise the work that his predecessors have done, but, fundamentally, the Conservatives went into the last election telling the Welsh Government they shouldn't spend money or resources on anything that isn't devolved. Now you seem to be arguing that they should be delivering on policies that aren't devolved, which is some political acrobatics that are beyond me. I give way to Mark Isherwood. 

Are you unaware that the Welsh Government agreed from the outset in 2011 that they would decide how to use and match fund the UK Government funding they received, by agreement, to roll out superfast broadband across Wales? 

I remember debating this with Ieuan Wyn Jones long before 2011, and Angela Burns led the work on that at that time. So, this goes back for many, many years. But I'm not here simply trying to allocate blame in the way that you are simply trying to describe here, because I think there's a failure, a systemic failure, here of the system that delivers broadband. And although we can point fingers back and forth in the Chamber if you wish to, that's a sterile exercise. It achieves nothing, because what we are not doing is addressing the roots of the failure. I want to see the Welsh Government—and I won't test your patience any longer, Deputy Presiding Officer—I want to see the Welsh Government working together with Members of the Senedd to ensure that the system that is in place works for Wales. That means that Ofcom is empowered or told to deliver regulation that delivers for the citizens of Wales, wherever they live, that the UK Government funds the work that they need to fund, and, where there is market failure, there is intervention to correct that failure. But for too often we've allowed telecommunication companies to make far too much money, frankly, on the backs of not serving the citizens that we represent, and that is a significant failure of policy over a period of 20 years. And that failure of policy affects communities in every part of this country, and we need to address that failure of policy, and not score pretty low-level political points in this Chamber on a Wednesday afternoon. 

I call the Minister for Economy, Vaughan Gething. 

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. First of all, I'd like to thank the committee for its work on the report, which succinctly highlights those areas where we are continuing to make progress, and further progress, indeed, is required. We can all agree that digital connectivity is an essential service. I also agree that I would like it to be treated properly as a public utility, with all of the requirements that come with that, including from the service providers. It is also undeniably a reserved matter for the UK Government, but we continue to step in to support residents and businesses, to help them to get the connectivity that they need with devolved resources. That challenge will become more difficult as our financial resources are becoming more and more challenged. I do thank Members for their broadly constructive contributions, and I recognise the back and forth between Alun Davies and Janet Finch-Saunders, but it's a matter of fact, not opinion, that this is reserved not devolved; it's a matter of fact, not opinion, that we have put devolved resources into adding on to the money that has been invested in Wales to try to resolve the issue, and it's simply a matter of fact that all the resources to date have not been designed to deliver 100 per cent connectivity.

The UK Government recently embarked on a £5 billion—that was the headline at the time—Project Gigabit to ensure, and this is their words, that all premises in the UK have access to gigabit-capable broadband; I think it's gigabit capable, rather than gigadoodah. The original target was that this would be delivered by 2025, but that was then revised by the UK Government to 85 per cent of UK premises by 2025, and all UK premises by 2030. Confusingly, 'all premises' doesn't actually mean all premises, because the UK Government is also developing plans for tackling what it calls 'very hard to reach premises' across the UK. And Alun Davies is right: some of those premises will be in rural communities, and some will be in urban communities. 

Now, I recognise what many Members have said, that digital connectivity is critical for people to stay connected and do more than just survive. We know that increases to the cost of living are already having a huge impact on individuals, families, communities and businesses. We're exploring the effects on delivery of the digital strategy for Wales and how our digital and data policy can help deliver for the most vulnerable in our society. Members will be familiar with our efforts to improve broadband connectivity. We've invested £56 million from devolved resources to help with the full fibre roll-out and provide broadband-capable gigabit speeds to around 39,000 homes and businesses by March next year. Our Access Broadband Cymru grant has helped thousands to improve their broadband speeds, and our local broadband fund has supported local authorities and social enterprises to improve the connectivity of whole communities. 

We made it clear, in our response to the committee, that we would continue to engage with the UK Government on its plans to tackle hard-to-reach premises and to continue to make the case for UK Government investment in this reserved area to connect the very hardest to reach premises across Wales. We share the committee's concerns about the switch-off of the public service telephone network. My officials have raised those concerns with the UK Government and the industry, and, in particular, that the move to voice over IP will leave customers vulnerable in the event of power outages. I cautiously welcome the UK Government's commitment to raise the value of its gigabit vouchers. We previously provided a top-up to this UK voucher scheme to reflect the potentially higher costs of providing connections in a landscape like Wales, but, of course, we have a UK Government commitment to deliver right across the UK. We have written previously to the UK Government, suggesting that they look at the funding ceilings, and we now wait to see how effective and significant an increase will be delivered or not by the UK Government. We agree that the universal service obligation cost cap needs to be revised. We've seen costs being quoted to residents and businesses running into tens of thousands of pounds, way above the £3,400 cap. That disadvantages the very premises that the universal service obligation was meant to address.

We're developing proposals to amend building regulations, as the Chair mentioned in opening, to try to ensure consistency across all new-build housing developments, so that residents can enjoy gigabit-capable broadband. We intend to undertake a consultation on these proposals shortly. And we recognise that digital inclusion is a social justice and equalities issue. People need to be confident to use the internet and digital technology to overcome other disadvantages that they might face. We know that digital access plays a significant role in society, as a number of Members mentioned. Whether it's for people to engage with health services, to reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation by remaining in contact with friends and families or, indeed, continuing to work and access learning. However, there do remain people who choose not to participate in the new digital world, or the standard digital world we've all become used to, and those who cannot afford the costs associated with being online. That's yet another impact of the cost-of-living crisis. We cannot afford for our citizens to be at a social or financial disadvantage, based on their right to choose whether they engage with digital. Therefore, as stated in our response to the committee, we'll continue to engage with the UK Government on their work leading on social tariffs.

We'll also reach out to key stakeholders, including Ofcom, regarding social tariff sign-up—and I recognise the points that were made about the regulator's area of responsibility and the reach or otherwise of the choices it has made to date. I'm especially interested in default costs. They're often much higher than when you're tied in to contract rates. That's especially relevant now. If you think about all the things we talk about on all sides of this Chamber around the cost of living, to then ask people who are concerned about their ability to remain in work and meet their bills, and the contrast between heating and eating, to then ask them to sign up to a year, 18 months or two years of a contract, when they may not be able to afford that, is a real challenge now. And of course, that then means they are potentially paying a much higher cost month to month. And just as there has been some reform with energy utilities on what happens when you run into a default, we think this is another area where further reform is required with real urgency.

I will consider carefully the comments that Members have made in the debate. There have been a number of comments made by Members on each side, and rather than try to respond to one or two of them now, I'll try to consider those and then see how we respond. Because I do think, on some of those, we will need to give further thought, with colleagues across the Chamber and in Government, and the potential for follow-up with them. But I know that the committee will retain an interest in this area, because we're committed, as I believe the committee is, to, as Alun Davies described—. And it's dangerous to quote Alun Davies, but I agree that we need a system that works for Wales, rural and urban, and that's what I believe we and indeed the committee are committed to trying to deliver.

I call on Llyr Gruffydd, the Chair of the committee, to reply to the debate.

Diolch yn fawr. Can I thank everybody who has contributed? And at the risk of becoming embroiled in this debate as to who's responsible for what, I think it's pretty clear; the first substantive section of our report as a committee, on page 2, starts with the words 'Telecommunications is a reserved matter', so it is clear. But that doesn't absolve the Welsh Government from some responsibility, because there are other areas of policies, such as planning, for example, that have a key role to play, leveraging private investment through various initiatives as well. There's plenty that everybody could be doing to try and further the agenda that we're all supportive of here, regardless of who we think is primarily at fault for this, that and the other.

But, of course, as a committee, we can't make recommendations to the UK Government, because they're not beholden to our committee in any way, therefore our very first recommendation is to the Welsh Government to engage with the UK Government, because that's the only way we can do it, to ensure that they do develop new initiatives to meet the particular needs of Wales. And I have to say, the reality is—and there's no getting away from this, regardless of who you think is to blame—the money being provided by the UK Government does not reflect the particular issues we have in Wales, and I mentioned the mountainous topography, et cetera; it's more expensive to roll out broadband in Wales than it is in other parts of the UK. The UK Government doesn't recognise that in its funding, and that is why the Welsh Government has stepped up and plugged that gap. But, in the current economic climate, the Welsh Government cannot justify continuing to do that. So, you can't have it both ways. We have to focus on devolved matters here primarily. Yes, we can do other things, but the reality is that the UK Government have to step up now and reflect the true cost of rolling out broadband in Wales, which is something they haven't done for many, many years.

Luke referred to this as a necessary and enabling service, and referenced older people, those with disabilities, younger people, and unemployed people looking for work. And that reminded me, actually, that there is another element in our report about some possible disconnect between Government policies here, because one of the policies is for 30 per cent of the workforce to be working from home in future, based on climate considerations, et cetera. Well, many of these people will not be able to work from home because of a failure of policy in this particular area. The digital first policy, in terms of if you are applying for a basic payment, then as a farmer you have to primarily use the digital means of applying for that, but, of course, they are the very people who have probably the least access, as a profession, to being able to do that. So, I think we do need to join up some of the thinking around this as well.

Carolyn, I'm glad you mentioned the Bangor University DSP initiative. I'm visiting tomorrow morning, so I can't wait, really, to learn about some of the innovative solutions that they're bringing forward there, especially for some of the rural communities.

Mabon ap Gwynfor mentioned the vouchers system, and the Minister mentioned the Welsh Government top-up. Of course, what's unfortunate is that I now have constituents of mine who were preparing themselves and waiting for vouchers to come through, dependent on the Welsh Government funding as part of that, who are now left without that funding, meaning that the whole proposal collapses. It's unfortunate that maybe some of those who were at a certain point should have still been able to access some funds, and maybe the Minister could consider whether some particular support is available for those. Although, some of those that were part of those initiatives have now peeled away and done their own thing, and the whole thing is maybe not as viable as it would have been, and that is very unfortunate. And, of course, it's the Welsh Government that gets it then for pulling the plug, whereas, of course, we've spoken about who maybe should have been funding that in the first place.

Thank you, Alun, for reminding us about the remit of Ofcom. I think you're right; there was a strategic mistake there in terms of focusing on consumers, although, of course, that's the nature of the beast. But, we are looking here about access for everyone in terms of broadband and the wider needs of citizens rather than a particular focus on consumers.

Minister, I am grateful that you've accepted all of our recommendations. Consensus has broken out, on that front at least, but, of course, it remains to be seen whether action and change will follow, whoever is responsible for achieving that, but certainly, we as a committee will be revisiting this area regularly over coming months and years to ensure that no stone is left unturned in terms of connectivity, and that no business and no household is left behind. Diolch.

The proposal is to note the committee's report. Does any Member object? I don't hear any objection, therefore the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.