Broadband and Mobile
Last week, I had the pleasure to establish and Chair the first Assembly Cross Party Group on Digital Communications. The aim of the group is to provide a forum to discuss the challenges and opportunities that digital communications will bring Wales and what affect and benefits they will have on the social and economic fabric of the Welsh nation. One of my key motivations in establishing this group was to ensure the digital issues that affect rural mid Wales are not seen as secondary to others of our urban towns and cities. Wales continues to fall behind other areas of the UK for broadband services, mobile phone services, as well as TV and radio services. I was surprised to hear that despite these figures, satisfaction levels for Welsh customers accessing fixed broadband and mobile phone services was very high – above 90%. However, one of the presenters caveated those figures by saying that Welsh consumers expectation levels were very low. We have been used to receiving poor services and poor performance for far too long and that I believe that must change.
Hourly Train Service
Recently, I was interested to read official statistics from the Office of the Rail Regulator regarding Montgomeryshire. It showed that of the five stations in the county – Dovey Junction, Machynlleth, Caersws, Newtown and Welshpool – Machynlleth was the busiest station, recording footfall of 132,206 people passing through the station in 2011/12. The combined footfall for all five stations was 418,860, which compared to the figures in 1997/98 (201,299) when the data was first recorded in its present format, shows that rail usage in the county has doubled over the last 14 years. This just adds to the body of overwhelming evidence that the hourly-service on the Cambrian Line is not just desirable but is absolutely necessary. The former Welsh Transport Minister prevaricated on this issue despite the Government having promised in its National Transport Plan that the extra trains would run in 2011. The Government’s current position is that the service seems vaguely due for roll-out in some form by the end of 2015. However, I will now be taking the opportunity to raise this afresh with the new Minister, Edwina Hart AM, asking her to re-examine this issue to see what the barriers to implementation are and whether service roll-out can be brought urgently brought forward.
Severe Weather
This week, the Welsh Conservative Group in the Assembly held a debate on the impact the recent severe weather has had on rural communities and businesses in Wales that have been really hit hard by the cold weather. Figures from a snap poll generated by the Federation of Small Business in Wales showed that on average, each business lost £1,580. It also showed that 38% of Welsh businesses surveyed said they had experienced a loss of demand, 31% had to close their premises because of the conditions and more than 1 in 10 lost access to their premises altogether as a result of the weather. Agricultural and tourism are our biggest sectors in mid Wales and the Government must step up and do all it can to support our small businesses.