Local MP John Lamont is to lead a debate this week on rural broadband, it has been confirmed.
The Westminster Hall debate will take place on Wednesday 22nd November 2017 and will be attended by the Minister for Digital, Matt Hancock MP.
John has called the debate as problems with broadband continues to be one of the most common complaints he receives. Since being elected in June, a large proportion of his casework has been broadband related.
The debate comes after nearly 600 constituents responded to an online survey on John’s website. Of these, 71 per cent of those who responded said their speeds were slower than 10 megabits per second and 80 per cent were unhappy with their broadband.
Official figures also show that Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk is in the bottom 30 UK constituencies for average broadband speed and access to decent broadband connection.
Speaking ahead of the debate, John said he wanted to use the time to emphasise to the Minister how vital broadband was to the Borders and lead a cross-party debate about what needs to be done to connect the ‘final 5%’ of properties. He will call on BT, the UK and Scottish Governments to do more for rural areas.
Commenting, John Lamont MP said: “Complaints about poor broadband is one of the most common issues which constituents get in touch about.
“I said that this would be a priority for me as an MP and I am therefore delighted to be leading this debate. For too long, rural households and communities have been putting up with slow and unreliable broadband delivery.
“This is a complex area with the UK Government in charge of legislating on broadband but the Scottish Government in charge of delivering on the ground.
“Given the slow progress to date, it is time to look closely at whether the current model for delivery is fit for purpose. Both the UK and Scottish governments have pledged to connect all homes in the next few years, so there is a lot of work to do.”