Berger: I’ll boost your broadband
AMETRO mayor hopeful has revealed that Halton is among several Liverpool City Region constituencies that have thousands of buildings without access to superfast broadband in a postcode lottery.
Luciana Berger has obtained figures from the new secretary of state for culture, media and sport Karen Bradley in an answer to a parliamentary question.
The figures – which cover Derek Twigg’s constituency and includes Widnes, Hale Village and much of Runcorn – show that 1,098 out of 44,739 homes and businesses across the borough are currently lacking the chance to benefit from high speed internet.
It equates to 2.3% of the area’s premises unable to connect to superfast broadband.
The Halton constituency boasts the fifth highest number out of the 16 seats which make up the Liverpool City Region.
Only Liverpool Riverside, St Helens South And Whiston, St Helens North and Southport boasts more homes and businesses without superfast broadband access than Halton.
Ms Berger, a digital industries ambassador, has made improving the connectivity in the region a key pledge in her manifesto.
She said: “It is outrageous that this disparity exists across our region.
“As metro mayor I want to close the digital divide so that no part of our region or any group is left without speedy access to the web.”
“High quality connectivity will be vital to our future success as a region.
“Businesses and industries who have considered setting up in our region have gone elsewhere because we can’t guarantee the world class communications infrastructure they demand.”
Ms Berger discovered that the constituency of Liverpool West Derby has 100% coverage, while one in 20 buildings in St Helens South And Whiston are not able to connect to high speed broadband.
The figure rises to one in six in Liverpool Riverside and in total, more than 20,000 homes and businesses across the Liverpool City Region are unable to access superfast broadband.
Ms Berger is standing against Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson and Walton MP Steve Rotheram for the position.