Written question WQ86932

Tackling digital exclusion is a poverty and inequality priority for this Government, we see digital and data poverty as part of the barrier to inclusion. The Digital Strategy for Wales, a Programme for Government commitment, makes clear our aim to support everyone to gain the motivation, confidence and basic digital skills needed.

Those we deem to be digitally excluded are people who are increasingly being marginalised in society. As a government, we are working to ensure that no citizen is left behind as we embrace a digital first approach and digital inclusion will be at the heart of all we deliver. However, we recognise that to engage in everyday life nowadays means more than just personally using the internet which has been our measure for digital inclusion through the National Survey for Wales.

In February, we commissioned the University of Liverpool to explore the concept of a ‘minimum digital living standard for Wales’, to consider the type of device, connectivity (both mobile and fixed) and basic digital skills needed to be an active citizen in our digital society. The University of Liverpool are working with leads from Loughborough University who developed the minimum income standard, using a consensus approach from citizens with lived experienced for both digital inclusion and exclusion, alongside stakeholders with a role in digital from across all sectors. This will help develop a definition for what citizens of Wales deem as a minimum need to meaningfully engage with and benefit from digital.

We are keen to ensure the findings from this work are shared widely and are committed to publishing the final report due in early 2023 on gov.wales. In addition, through the British Irish Council work sector for digital inclusion we are sharing our findings in hope of finding a consistent way to measure digital inclusion across the UK moving forward.

There are a number of barriers to digital inclusion. However, the cost-of-living crisis has now added greater pressure to the barrier of affordability. There is an increasing risk that more people will become digitally excluded due to the cost of mobile and broadband bills. This will leave many citizens with the stark choice of prioritising other rising household costs, such as food and energy, or connectivity.

The latest Ofcom UK data in September 2022 suggested only 3.1% of UK households had taken up a social tariff from an eligible circa 4million households – Which? Research [1]in December 2022 suggested for those eligible to move to a social tariff, the annual saving could be up to £250. Therefore, we are working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as telecommunications is a non-devolved matter, to help raise awareness of social tariffs for broadband and mobile. DCMS have launched a national social tariff campaign and are working with officials to share resources with stakeholders across Wales.

Through our procured digital inclusion and health programme, Digital Communities Wales: digital confidence health and well-being (DCW) we are working with organisations from all sectors that can help reach digitally excluded people. The programme is designed to provide training and support to front line staff, volunteers and organisations in order to engage with and develop the basic digital skills of citizens and enable them to engage with vital services. DCW are working in partnership with Good Things Foundation, a UK charity, on their National Databank initiative. The Databank provides free mobile data, texts and calls to people in need with community organisations able to apply to access the databank, allowing them to provide data to people in their communities.

Earlier this year we worked with the Centre for Digital Public Services (CDPS) to undertake a piece of mapping to capture digital inclusion support across Wales. This included a range of locations, such as libraries and community centres, including those who are part of the National Databank, who provide free support for citizens to develop digital skills and access to a device and internet. We are working to publish an interactive map, using DataMapWales, which will allow people and organisations supporting those who are digitally excluded, to search by postcode to identify and signpost places providing digital support.

There is a wide range of activity ongoing across the UK to address digital inequality and we are striving to ensure we are working collaboratively with key stakeholders, including the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA), who have the aim of ending digital poverty by 2030. The DPA are beginning work on developing a National Delivery Plan and my officials have met with Chief Executive Officer, Paul Finnis, to ensure their plan takes into account the activity ongoing across Wales to support the agenda. In addition to this, in November 2021 Good Things Foundation with Nominet set up the ‘Data Poverty Lab’, which has the aim to find sustainable solutions to data poverty. In a recent meeting on 8 December attended by officials, Data Lab launched their report: Local communities and the internet ecosystem: Scaling solutions to data poverty in the UK which provides an overview of current and developing ways of tackling data poverty and ways to scale solutions within the complex ecosystem of internet access.

[1] All you need to know about broadband social tariffs - Which?