Plaid Cymru Dwyfor Meirionnydd The Rt Hon. Liz Saville Roberts MP and Mabon ap Gwynfor MS

During an Urgent Question granted to Plaid Cymru, Liz Saville Roberts MP expressed deep concern about the prolonged power outages, which have left residents across parts of Gwynedd without heating, water, or reliable means of communication.

Mrs Saville Roberts noted that in rural areas like Dwyfor Meirionnydd, the loss of copper landlines in the recent digital switchover had made it more difficult for rural areas to communicate during extreme weather events.

This is an issue Mrs Saville Roberts recently raised with Department of Culture, Media and Sports Minister, Chris Bryant MP. 

Speaking in the House of Commons today, Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

Electricity supplies have yet to be restored in some Gwynedd communities, more than seventy-two hours since the red weather warning. Switching from copper to digital technology means that all landlines will need electricity to work in future, and so do mobile masts. These are reserved matters for Westminster, not devolved. Will she speak with her colleagues in DCMS and commit to a government assessment of the resilience of mobile and landline communications in Wales and the adequacy of the support given by BT / EE to elderly and vulnerable people during the switchover process.

Liz Saville Roberts MP added:

The impact of Storm Darragh has caused widespread disruption across our Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency, leaving many communities and businesses without power, and presenting real challenges in terms of maintaining core services and local transport links. We would like to pay tribute to the efforts of Gwynedd Council staff and to all partner agencies, particularly local engineering teams, who have been working hard to restore power and clear Gwynedd roads of debris, in very difficult conditions. We also thank those who have given their time and effort to help elderly and vulnerable neighbours. Needless to say, it will be the elderly and vulnerable who will be impacted the most by this disruption. We are seeking firm assurances from all service providers that sufficient mitigation measures were deployed to safeguard the welfare of these individuals. An issue of particular concern to us is the impact on Care Call (Galw Gofal) users, of which there are around 1,600 in Gwynedd, specifically in light of the switchover from PSTN to digital phone lines. This is a pressing issue in our rural constituency given the unreliable nature of mobile signal. We have already raised this with the Minister and call again on this migration process to be halted until sufficient safety measures are put in place by providers to guard against future network failures.