Our pledge to deliver high speed broadband to all of Yorkshire - Matt Warman

Many of the areas are not commercially viable for broadband companies to build their infrastructure and connections and when this is the case the government steps in.

We have already invested £60m connecting 97 per cent of Yorkshire with superfast broadband. This gives download speeds of 24 megabits per second or more and is why so many people have been able to work from home effectively during the lockdown.

The importance of good internet connectivity to our modern economy and society cannot be underestimated, as the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted. It enables people to keep connected, be entertained, informed and work from home.

This period has reaffirmed our focus on the vital, major task of upgrading networks with newer broadband that is capable of download speeds of 1,000 megabits per second, or one gigabit.

These much faster internet speeds will allow families to stream movie and gaming content in new high-quality 4K definition, onto multiple devices at the same time.

They will make it even easier to shop online and stay in touch with friends and family and revolutionise rural communities by giving people greater freedom to live and work more flexibly.

Gigabit-capable coverage in Yorkshire and nationwide already stands above 20 per cent. That might not sound like much but it means more than 7.5 million UK homes and businesses can now access these speeds, compared to around 1.4 million two years ago.

Through our Local Full Fibre Networks programme we’ve given almost £27.5m to upgrade public sector sites in three areas of Yorkshire. This includes more than £500,000 for schools in the East Riding, and £15m to get this better broadband to more than 350 public sector sites in North Yorkshire, such as libraries and council buildings.

We’ve invested £12m into the Trans-Pennine Initiative which is bringing digital infrastructure to rail corridors to boost broadband connectivity and commercial investment for nearby businesses and local communities.

Broadband companies are increasing the pace of their own commercial rollout across the country. As they do this we have plans to invest a further £5bn to make sure rural areas get these faster speeds at the same time as urban areas.

We know there’s more to do and recognise there are people in rural parts of Yorkshire struggling with slow speeds. I say to these people: visit the Government’s website to find out more about the immediate financial help available through our Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and check whether you are eligible. The scheme allows businesses and communities to come together to apply for funding to offset the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband to premises.

To date we’ve issued nearly 45,000 vouchers nationally, worth £90m. The vouchers provide up to £3,500 funding for businesses and up to £1,500 for homes to cover the cost of broadband companies building out this next-generation infrastructure to people’s doorsteps.

Across Yorkshire, more than 2,000 vouchers totalling £5.4m have been issued. West Yorkshire in particular is one of the areas where rural residents and businesses have benefited most.

Nationwide, vouchers worth more than £70m are still available.

Faster internet has the potential to transform rural communities by enabling them to keep pace with new and unexpected advances in technology that will bring new jobs and economic growth.

We want to deliver this for Yorkshire, and in every corner of the UK. It is our national mission to level up the country and create a place where everyone can achieve their potential.