Government Pushed to Help Scottish Broadband

 The Government should step in to “make up for the shortfall” in the delivery of superfast broadband north of the border, says MP David Duguid.

08:18 01 February 2020

The north-east MP is urging the Government to take every measure to ensure that superfast broadband is deployed in the north of the border as soon as possible.

 

Raising the issue at the House of Commons, the Scottish Conservative MP said: “My constituency of Banff and Buchan is amongst the lowest covered areas for superfast broadband in the whole of the UK.

 

“When Aberdeenshire Council applied to the UK Government for additional support, one of the reasons it was declined was that it was assumed to be covered by the Scottish Government’s R100 programme.

 

“Now that the Scottish Government has admitted that it will be several years late, can we revisit coverage for places like Banff and Buchan for support from the UK Government to make up for the shortfall by the Scottish Government.”

 

In response, Matt Warman MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: “He is right to highlight the deeply disappointing delays to the R100 scheme administered by the Scottish Government.

 

“I will shortly be meeting with my Scottish counterpart Paul Wheelhouse again to see how the government can help the Scottish Government to go further and faster because it certainly needs to.”