Official Report 399KB pdf
As members can see, we have less than six minutes to get through the “Brussels Bulletin”, so if you have comments, questions or points of clarification, please give me them now.
You will recall that at previous meetings some members requested more summary information about the kind of investments that the European Union is making in particular areas. We asked for a wee summary of that to be attached to the bulletin. Will that ever be included in the bulletin itself, or would it be something separate that the committee would have to ask for? It is important that we can find out about some of the beneficial, positive programmes that Europe is driving and delivering for Scotland and for elsewhere. That would be very helpful.
That might be additional information, but we can certainly chase it up for you and see what is happening. It might be that the break over Christmas has pushed the timeline on that a wee bit.
Thank you.
Under the heading “Broadband” on page 6, the bulletin notes that
“the UK is head of the EU average across all technology combinations”
but that
“in rural areas the situation is significantly different to the national picture”.
I think that that is the point here. It is all very well painting a rosy picture, but the actual facts of the matter are different. What is happening is that little deserts are being created in the UK, particularly in Scotland’s rural areas, which then find themselves at a distinct disadvantage, particularly in tourism terms. When telephones were rolled out, every house had one. Why cannot every house have a fibre optic connection?
Given the committee’s keen interest in the matter, the many times that it has been raised and the Commission’s renewed focus on it, maybe we should write to the Commission to ask it to look specifically at the areas that you described.
What worries me about the present situation is that we run the risk of creating an unfair society.
Why do we not raise that specific issue with the Commission?
All right. I was going to ask if the issue could be included in the questions to Ms Minor.
We can certainly do that as well.
That was the question that I, too, had in mind. It was about what advice she could offer us in pursuing the issue. Digital broadband not being rolled out in certain areas is disadvantaging people, trade and industry, arts and crafts, and culture. The fact that the disadvantages are boundless drives home the importance of broadband being rolled out.
It has been said that the broadband companies must make ends meet, but they cherry pick where to roll out broadband and make large sums of money by rolling it out in large cities. That is not good enough. There needs to be a bit of responsibility when it comes to the percentage of broadband that needs to be rolled out in rural areas. We need to put in place a strategy for that. We have talked about the issue for nearly two years now, but I do not see any end to the discussion. We really need to do something about it now.
Okay. There are a few elements to that: the UK Government and the roll-out of 3G and 4G; the Scottish Government and its funding and roll-out of broadband; and the European aspect of that. Why do we not write a supply chain-type letter, whereby we seek clarification from the Scottish Government on the progress that it has made on the issue with the UK Government, and therefore the progress that it has made with the EU on it?
That would be helpful.
Okay. Are there any more comments on the “Brussels Bulletin”?
There is a really good initiative in Scotland to roll out superfast broadband to not only urban communities but Highland and rural communities. However, I am thinking of the issue more in a European context. There is quite a variable picture across European member states in terms of the superfast speeds that are available in each country. I would have thought that the digital single market might have wanted to embrace that much more clearly to level out the situation and lift standards and speeds across Europe. I think that an opportunity has been missed because of the cut in the broadband infrastructure budget in Europe, but I would still like to see a European perspective on the development of broadband.
Okay. We have got all of that. Thank you very much.
The next committee meeting will be on 5 February, when we will take evidence from the Deputy First Minister on the transatlantic trade and investment partnership as part of our on-going inquiry into the issue. I look forward to seeing members then, and I thank them for their attendance this morning.
Meeting closed at 11:29.Previous
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