18 August 2011
Highlands & Islands Labour MSP and Shadow Minister for Finance and Infrastructure, Rhoda Grant, is calling on the governments at Westminster and Holyrood to allocate more funding for rural broadband.
This comes on the back of the announcement yesterday that Scotland is to receive £68.8m from the rural broadband monies made available by Westminster.
Mrs Grant said,
“While I welcome any funding coming on stream for rural broadband, the Westminster Government has not allocated all of the £530m set aside for supporting broadband.
" The new coalition government advised last year that £830m would be allocated for broadband.
"£530m of this is on the table now but I am advised that there is the potential to draw down an additional £300m for broadband provision beyond 2015 should it be necessary.
"This is absolutely necessary and I am calling on the government at Westminster to fulfil their promise and release all of the £830m they promised last year.
“I am pleased to hear that the Scottish Government has today said that it will play its own part through direct investment of Scottish Government funding.
"This is most welcome.
" Scottish Labour has been pressing the Scottish Government for years to invest in rural broadband provision.
" I will be contacting the Cabinet Secretary to see when, and how much, investment will be made."
Mrs Grant continued,
“The 10m previously allocated for the superfast broadband pilot to be conducted in the Highlands & Islands will come out of the £68m announced yesterday.
"Welcome as this is, much much more is needed.
"Highlands & Islands Enterprise who are running the pilot estimate that the potential cost to roll out superfast broadband across the Highlands and Islands could be as much as £300m.
"Given these figures, it is clear that the governments both at Westminster and at Holyrood need to invest much more than is presently available and I will continue to press both governments to do so.”
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