Faster Broadband for Swindon – an open letter to Robert Buckland MP from Anne Snelgrove Labour PPC for South Swindon

I was interested to read your column in the Swindon Advertiser (16 October), where you outline plans to bring faster broadband to Swindon. First class communication links are vital if Swindon is to recover from the recession, particularly as the economy has only just started growing very slowly after three years of flatling, and I welcome this belated move by the local council.

Open letter to Robert Buckland MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA

17 October 2013

Dear Mr Buckland

I was interested to read your column in the Swindon Advertiser (16 October), where you outline plans to bring faster broadband to Swindon. First class communication links are vital if Swindon is to recover from the recession, particularly as the economy has only just started growing very slowly after three years of flatling, and I welcome this belated move by the local council.

However, you have a very short memory about broadband in Swindon. I will take this opportunity to remind you of actions your Government and your Conservative Councillors have taken in the recent past, which have made it harder for Swindon to connect to faster broadband.

Firstly, in 2009 Conservative Councillors under the leadership of Councillor Rod Bluh entered into a partnership with a local businessman, Rikki Hunt, to provide ‘free wifi’ for Swindon. At least £350,000 of taxpayers money was wasted on this scheme, none of which has been accounted for. The exclusive contract excluded other companies which would have liked to tender for the business, and when the company went bust delayed by several years investment in faster broadband in Swindon. 

Conservative Councillor Garry Perkins, Mr Hunt and a council officer (who has since left the employment of the council with a payoff) were Directors of the company but have not provided any accounts for the time the company was trading. I am unaware that you have made any statements condemning the actions of Swindon Borough Council and both of your South Swindon Conservative Councillors Rod Bluh and Garry Perkins for wasting taxpayers money and delaying faster broadband for Swindon. In March 2010 I held an Adjournment Debate in the House of Commons on the Wifi issue, something which your party dismissed as ‘politicking’ at the time. Given that I had raised the issue many times in private and that my grave concerns were subsequently proved correct, you and your party owe me and the electors of Swindon an apology for that sweeping dismissal. My debate can be found here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100322/debtext/100322-0016.htm

In my speech, I referred to the Labour Government’s commitment to introducing universal access to broadband for all households by 2012, meaning everyone would have access to 2 megabits per second broadband, a deliverable and affordable commitment. Unfortunately, one of the first actions of your Government was to abandon that target and instead, you promised to deliver broadband to 90 per cent of premises by the end of 2015. But having abandoned our target, your Government looks set to fail to achieve its own.

Just like the Swindon Wifi debacle, nationally taxpayers’ money has been wasted and there has been very little transparency in the contract bidding process. In September 2013, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee criticised the broadband contracts as poor value for money because officers failed to check BT’s costings. Despite your Government’s claims to increase competition, all the contracts so far have gone to BT and it is expected that the remaining ones will also be awarded to BT. Despite this lack of competition, the Government has not required BT to publish coverage of broadband so that we do not know the areas which are still not receiving any broadband signal.

The internet is indeed a vital part of Swindon’s infrastructure, sadly one which Conservative Councillors and your Conservative Government have delayed by several years through poor investment and mismanagement. Instead of lauding these inadequate actions, you should apologise to local people and Swindon businesses.

Yours sincerely

Anne Snelgrove

Labour PPC for South Swindon

annesnelgrove@hotmail.co.uk