£1m community broadband MP hits out at minister over crew scheme for Mull ‘in jeopardy’ shortages
MULL’S ‘groundbreaking’ project to bring superfast broadband to 1,600 homes in Argyll’s remote blackspots has descended into an ‘impossible mess’ after its contractor went bust, wasting four years of work and £1 million of taxpayers’ money.
Directors of the communityrun GigaPlus Argyll say the organisation is now in an ‘absurd’ situation where it is burdened with eight masts it cannot use, which will probably have to be removed at further public cost, after only two houses were ever connected.
BT is contracted to provide superfast broadband to 95 per cent of the UK, leaving the remotest five per cent uncovered, and in 2012 GigaMull was born to reach the parts BT could not.
The community-funded and -run service expanded into GigaPlus Argyll (GPA) to bring superfast broadband to Mull, Iona, Lismore, Colonsay, Luing, Islay, Jura and the Craignish peninsula.
Some £988,000 of government funding was granted towards the network’s staged roll-out by Community Broadband Scotland (CBS), a Scottish Government initiative led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
Contractors were invited to tender and GPA appointed Lincoln-based AB Internet Ltd, which also supplied the CBS-supported project Loch Tay Internet, to construct a network of masts and operate the system.
However, GPA director Tim Dawson told The Oban Times: ‘After considerable delays in the construction programme, the contractor revealed in April 2017 that it was in financial difficulty and in May it entered voluntary administration.
‘GPA had made all payments under the contract at the appropriate times and is a completely innocent victim of the contractor’s failure.
‘The contractor left just eight masts constructed on Mull, with a link back to Oban. Official expenditure up to this point was £700,000, but taking into account other administrative costs is likely to have exceeded £1 million of taxpayer money.’
Only two houses were connected before AB Internet went into voluntary administration and the contract was terminated.
The infrastructure nominally belongs to GPA under the terms of the contract, but Mr Dawson said: ‘GPA is not allowed to use the existing masts for any community scheme it may try to set up because they were constructed under state aid regulations.
‘This ruling is likely to make it impractical for GPA to set up a community scheme to salvage something from the mess.’
Mr Dawson continued: ‘It appears the only solution for the masts is to dismantle them and make good the ground, at further public cost.
‘Since May, GPA has been struggling to find a way forward. The official attitude of government agencies could be summarised as: “Tough, go to the back of the queue”.’
GPA’s chairman Moray Finch added: ‘AB Internet’s failure leaves the 1,600 properties that were covered by the project with no prospect of a superfast broadband service in the timescale of the contract – and the contract was already around 12 months late when it was terminated.’
Mr Finch said the board of volunteers faced an ‘impossible dilemma’ exploring the options ahead, and he was not optimistic a solution would be found at their meeting with CBS and HIE at Craignure on Wednesday, adding: ‘It appears every commonsense suggestion we have put forward for a community-led solution is prohibited by the advice from CBS and Broadband Development UK. Meanwhile, time moves on and our remote communities continue to be depopulated, in part due to the poor and, in some cases, nonexistent broadband provision.
‘We feel strongly that public funding should be made available, free of restrictions, to resolve the situation allowing us to deliver our community’s – and indeed the Scottish Government’s – aspirations for Next Generation Broadband.’ WESTERN Isles MP Angus B MacNeil has voiced disappointed with the response he has received from the Minister of State for Immigration, Brandon Lewis, about the crew shortage crisis in the West Coast fishing industry.
In March, Mr MacNeil hit out at the Home Office for failing to consider reintroducing a scheme which would allow non-European people to work in the industry and in July he wrote to Mr Lewis calling for him to visit the West Coast of Scotland to meet representatives of the fishing industry as they struggle with a shortage of crew.
Mr MacNeil said: ‘I invited Mr Lewis to meet with representatives of the West Coast of Scotland fishing industry so as he could see the damage the UK government’s rules on migrant workers is having on fishing communities.
‘The response from the minister shows a clear lack of understanding about the crisis in the West Coast of Scotland fishing industry.
‘The minister has informed me that in April his officials met the Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association and the Anglo-Northern Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation, who were invited to work up some further proposals as to what sort of arrangements might assist in meeting its needs while not undermining the government’s policy of restricting the use of non-EEA labour to fill “less skilled” vacancies in the UK.
‘Anyone who is, or has been, fishing would never describe this work as “less skilled”.
‘The minister has indicated to me that he thinks it would be best to see what emerges from these proposals before committing to my suggestion of a visit to the West Coast.’