Legal Research

Big Society ? broadband for all (except Wales)*

By scott

I noticed this story on Friday, but the relevant press release has only just appeared on the Plaid Cymru website concerning just how the coalition government went about deciding which 4 parts of the UK should host super-fast broadband internet pilot schemes.

In case you missed this news a few weeks ago the four are: Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Herefordshire, and the Western Isles in Scotland. So 4 home nations, but only 2 good enough for pilots. But not to fear, as when questioned on the decision in the House of Commons on 25 October, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Hunt, told everyone that ?Wales has not been excluded. Herefordshire is on the border of Wales?.

It’s like the people next door having a party, and you haven’t been inviteted , but that’s ok, because you haven’t been ‘excluded’ as the party is happening in a house that ‘borders’ yours.

Plaid Cymru?s Westminster leader and MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd Elfyn Llwyd, still wasn’t amused and was even less so when he enquired into how the ‘winning’ areas were chosen and how many people would benefit from these choices.

11 Areas were proposed ? including the Llyn Peninsula in north west Wales (put forward as the recommended choice of the Welsh Assembly Government) and were selected on the basis that they offered combinations of the following:

Are currently uneconomic due to unattractive payback period but would be long-term commercially sustainable;
Provide opportunity to reuse existing infrastructure: Telco supplier’s infrastructure Utility infrastructure or Public sector networks;
Leverage additional sources of funds (e.g. European, public and private);
Provide maximum learning opportunities on cost, revenue take-up and other project information;
Testing different delivery and commercial models.

So Elfyn asked for what reason in each case those not chosen being rejected? Ed Vaizey replied ‘ Those selected were deemed to offer the required mix of learning opportunities from the selection criteria.’

Not exactly giving much away there.

Elfyn tried another track asking if the government “will publish the marks against each set of criteria and total mark given to each of the 11 locations proposed for the superfast broadband pilot.” This should be straightforward enough, yes? Well, no, because ” The selection process involved making a judgment as to which of the projects proposed offered the best opportunities for learning that would inform the UK wide deployment strategy. This process did not involve awarding specific marks against the individual criteria.”

So, there you have it. The government had set criteria to judge candidates for the broadband pilots but thought using any kind of marking system was a bit old hat and just decided amongst themselves. Well, that wont go down very well with the voters ? oh, no wait, of course, they don’t really have any in Wales do they.

*  Northerm Ireland also have nowhere suitable for a superfast broadband trial either, it seems, and they don’t even get the advantage of a party going on in the house next door. ?

Full post as published by Information Overload on November 08, 2010 (boomark / email).