'Government does not grasp extent of rural connectivity problems', MPs warn

A pledge by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to speed up the roll-out of faster broadband coverage has been questioned by a group of MPs. Picture by Rui Vieira/PA Wire.

Speaking exclusively to The Yorkshire Post at the UK National Parks Conference near Skipton, a senior parks official warned that the mounting threat to the sustainability of Dales communities, as documented in our Dales in Crisis series, was dogging other National Parks, and that addressing a lack of broadband and mobile phone connectivity, as well as more affordable homes, is vital to help reverse the trend.

Margaret Paren, chair of National Parks England said: “It’s something which is across the National Parks and that’s very concerning because rural businesses are dependent (on connectivity).”

She said fledgling businesses in rural areas face a particular struggle.

“Start up businesses are likely to be in the sort of environments you get in National Parks and that sort of initiative needs connectivity which just isn’t there at the moment.”

A new report by MPs published today claims that recent improvements in rural connectivity have “barely kept up with increasing demand”.

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The Government is accused of failing to grasp the extent of the problem, its “Universal Service Obligation” to deliver minimum speeds of 10Mbps lacks ambition for rural areas and will be obsolete soon after introduction, and that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s target to deliver universal full-fibre broadband by 2025 is unlikely to be achieved without “potentially controversial reforms”.

In the Yorkshire Dales, investment by community benefit society B4RN has made a difference to western areas of the National Park, park authority chiefs said, with to-the-premises fibre broadband speeds in the hamlet of Chapel-le-Dale “faster than in Westminster”, but this was in stark contrast to central parts of the Dales in particular.

David Butterworth, chief executive of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, said: “I can’t think of an area of the country that is as illustrative as the Yorkshire Dales in terms of the contrast.”

He said private companies could not be relied upon to close the gap and that the Goverment had to intervene “to make good on its promises”, because improved connectivity can help convince families to stay in or move to National Parks.

Mr Butterworth said: “We are seeing evidence in western parts of the park already that that’s happening, people are coming into that area.”

In their new report, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee calls for a “rural roaming” solution to tackle partial “not-spots” in mobile coverage.

Neil Parish MP, the Committee’s chairman, said: “The problem of poor connectivity in rural areas has gone on for far too long.

“With so many of our public services now delivered primarily online, it is imperative that this problem is resolved and that rural communities are granted the same digital access as the majority of their urban counterparts.”