RURAL communities should be able to apply directly to Government for grants to upgrade their broadband and internet services, West Somerset’s MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has suggested.

All Somerset’s Conservative MPs have welcomed the Government’s commitment to give people a legal right to access minimum broadband speeds, similar to the legal requirement for a telephone connection.

But at a meeting ahead of the Budget with Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, Mr Liddell-Grainger said mechanisms should be put in place to ensure funding for the services in rural areas was precisely targeted.

“We don’t want the money simply handed to the county council to spend because experience shows that funds then risk being quietly siphoned off for other projects,” he said.

“I should like to see local communities putting together their own bids and winning individual grants.”

The Government’s revamped Industrial Strategy sets out the changes that are needed to give the majority of the population access to 5G, connect 15 million premises to full-fibre broadband by 2025, and provide full-fibre broadband to the house coverage across the UK by 2033.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said he was encouraged by commitment, given that 70 per cent of people in a recent survey felt digital infrastructure was the most important issue in the rural economy.

“But given the dismal experience we have had with Connecting Devon and Somerset – which promised so much and has delivered so little – it is clear we and the Government will have to hold contractors’ feet to the fire in order to deliver on that pledge,” he said.

“Poor or no digital connectivity is still a problem for too many people in the country, and it is predominantly people in rural areas who are suffering.

“More and more of the economic and social life of the country is moving online and access to broadband is essential to tackle the digital divide between town and country.”

Mr Liddell-Grainger said directly-payable grants could also be used to fund local, flexible minibus services in communities where a critical mass of users could be identified.

“Flexible minibus services can offer a lower-cost solution to curing the problems of rural bus routes being steadily eroded as local authority grant support is withdrawn,” he said.

“If communities were to be directly awarded local transport grants then the way would be open for them to negotiate with transport operators to provide tailored services on the days or at the times when there was the greatest need.

“But I would emphasise yet again: the money must go straight to the community, not be sieved through the county council so that only a fraction of the intended support eventually drips down.”