Jade Botterill

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Dr Murrison. I thank the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for securing the debate. I am deeply proud to have grown up in and to represent a rural area. Anyone from any of the villages could tell the House how unique their community is; from Scissett’s wassailing to Shelley’s fundraising French Sunday Lunch or the Crigglestone and Durkar Wombles, who help to keep their village tidy, rural villages across my constituency provide rich, distinct communities. However, their beauty and that community can obscure deep issues, including lack of access to public services, transport and employment opportunities. Following the previous Government’s real-terms cut of £1 billion to NHS dentistry between 2010 and 2014, everyone in the country knows the struggle to access a dentist, but in dental deserts in rural communities, the cuts are felt more deeply. The previous Government allowed the roads across our country to fall into disrepair, but in rural communities, where people are more reliant on cars because public transport is so unreliable, people know the real cost and inconvenience of the pothole crisis—and, although everyone has felt the rise of antisocial behaviour since 2010, only rural communities face the full impact of county lines, livestock theft and fly-tipping. That is why I am so supportive of the Government’s efforts to support our rural communities. We are delivering a renewed push to expand 5G and broadband coverage by 2030, so that poor connectivity no longer holds rural communities back. We are providing nearly £1.6 billion in funding to finally get to grips with the pothole crisis, supporting parents taking their children to school and people just trying to get to work. When I report potholes I see across the constituency, I now have confidence that they will be filled. For constituents like so many in Emley, who are tired of waiting hours for buses that are delayed—if they come at all—we are giving communities the power to take back control of their bus services, with our better buses Bill. For all those unable to see an NHS dentist, forced to go private or to live in pain, 700,000 new dental appointments will be delivered, bolstering the flexible commissioning and golden hellos needed to attract dentists in rural areas. Those are real, concrete commitments to rural communities across our nation—commitments on potholes, bus services, dentists and rural crime. From the city centre to the village hall, I am proud to support the Labour Government in delivering these much-needed changes to our country and its rural communities.