Welsh Conservative Leader and Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has successfully lobbied for the Access Broadband Cymru scheme to be reinstated, after it was paused last August.

The scheme provides grants for stable superfast internet in areas where current internet speeds and connectivity is far from satisfactory.

In October last year, Mr. Millar questioned the Welsh Government over why it was paused when it was and urged Ministers to look at reinstating it as soon as possible.  He raised the matter again in March and asked why there had been no progress at that point.

Welcoming the news of the scheme restarting, he said:   “This has been a long time coming, but I am thrilled that this scheme is once again operational.

“The Access Broadband Cymru scheme was very important in helping lots of residents and businesses to get online and to make sure that they had decent broadband services in those parts of Wales where Openreach’s plans were not able to reach.

“After it was paused, constituents were constantly telling me that they were finding it difficult to access faster broadband speeds to get online. I repeatedly raised the matter with Ministers and urged them to get the scheme back up and running as soon as possible.

“Last week’s letter was therefore very welcome indeed and I know many residents and businesses in my constituency of Clwyd West, and indeed throughout Wales, will be as pleased as I am by the news.

“It should never have taken the Welsh Government as long as it did to relaunch it, but I am just thankful today that it is operational once again.

“As I have repeatedly said, digital infrastructure is transforming our way of life and the way we do business, and we cannot afford to let Wales lag behind.”