Digital Inclusion: Stronger Communities · used the internet. Half of those in social housing...

Digital Inclusion:Stronger Communities

Wales Co-operative Centre Digital Inclusion 2014

2 Wales Co-operative Centre

The impact of digital exclusion on people in Wales is greaterthan ever. Digital exclusion makes people poor. It keeps peopleout of work. It isolates people: this can lead to poor health andreduced life expectancy. Children from households that aren’tonline underachieve at school. Digital exclusion marginalisespeople and disenfranchises them.

Latest figures show there are still half a million people in Waleswho are digitally excluded. One in five Welsh adults has neverused the internet. Half of those in social housing aren’t online athome. Older people and those in deprived areas are more likelyto be digitally excluded.

The introduction of Universal Credit could have a catastrophicimpact on people who are digitally excluded. The new benefitsystem is designed to be accessed online. The risk is that peoplewho are digitally excluded could fail to access their benefits, orthey won’t be able to manage their money. Claimants will needfinancial inclusion support: but the best resources are online.Digital exclusion could make the poorest people, poorer still.

Communities 2.0 is the Welsh Government’s flagship digitalinclusion programme. It has had a transformative impact on thedigital inclusion landscape in Wales. 54,000 people will havebeen directly helped, with many more benefiting indirectly. Councils, housing associations and community groups haveformed strategic partnerships to drive forward digital inclusion.Nationally, support is co-ordinated, good practice is shared, andquality is assured. Locally, provision is genuinely accessible.Model ways of working with hard to reach groups have beenpiloted.

But Communities 2.0 funding ends in March 2015. The realdanger is that without a specific national digital inclusionproject, vast expertise will be lost, support will becomefragmented, progress will stall and quality of support willdecline. The impact of all of this is that people in Wales willcontinue to suffer the consequences of digital exclusion:consequences which will become more severe with each changein society, each advance in technology, and each service thatgoes online.

We believe that the problem is so serious that it needs specialattention. We need to do more than hope that others will dealwith it. We believe that Wales needs a continuing national digitalinclusion programme.

Executive summary

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3Digital Inclusion: Stronger Communities

Digitally excluded people are more likely tobe workless

Job vacancies tend to be advertised online, with applicationsmade the same way. Use of the online Universal Jobmatchsystem, digital CVs and email are becoming compulsory for JobCentre Plus claimants. Large employers such as supermarketsand banks no longer accept paper CVs handed in to branches,but require an online process to be used. Most jobs themselvesinvolve the use of some technology.

So people who are unable to use the Internet to find vacancies,who are unable to use a word processor to construct a CV, andwho lack the basic ICT skills to function in work will find itconsiderably harder to find work.

Digitally excluded people are more likely tobe poor

The new Universal Credit system is designed for working agepeople to make and manage claims themselves online. All JSAclaimants will have to claim online unless they are deemed to bevulnerable. There is planned support for people who cannot dothis but it is unclear how effective it will be.

In a benefits system which increasingly requires claimants torespond immediately to changes in circumstances or otherqueries about their claim, people who can’t do this onlinethemselves will be more likely to have benefits suspended. Thiscould have the catastrophic impact of making the already poor,poorer still.

The everyday savings that people can make by “shoppingaround” online have been well documented, for example in thePricewaterhouseCoopers report The Economic Case for DigitalInclusion (2008). Since the report was published, the financialbenefits of purchasing online have increased with the rise ofcomparison sites and ever increasing competition amongstonline retailers.

After being made redundant fromhis job of 10 years as alabourer/driver, Michael struggledto find employment for threeyears. As someone who didn’t usea computer on a regular basis, hefound the changes to Jobseeker’sAllowance, which require jobseekers to look for work online,frustrating. After hearing aboutdrop-in sessions run by GetBridgend Online, Michael beganattending to improve his computerskills. While Michael had someprevious experience of usingcomputers, his confidence wasextremely low as he struggled touse the Universal Jobmatchwebsite effectively.

Through attending the sessions,Michael learnt the skills whichhave allowed him to apply for workindependently and confidently.He can now utilise the features ofthe Universal Jobmatch website,and complete online applications.In addition to the skills he haslearnt through Get BridgendOnline, Michael has also becomeinspired to progress his knowledgefurther, signing up for a LearnDirect course in Basic Computing,adding to his qualifications.

Michael says the biggest benefithe has gained from the sessionsis a big boost in confidence.While he currently remainsunemployed, he is optimistic thathis new skills will help him securework in the near future.

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The impact of digitalexclusion

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Digitally excluded people are more likely tobe financially excluded

People who are digitally excluded and who don’t have financialinclusion support are considerably more likely to reach a point offinancial crisis and turn to doorstep lenders or payday loans thanthose who are digitally included.

For example, benefit claimants increasingly need financialinclusion support. The impact of the Bedroom Tax has been toreduce benefits for some: the planned change to single monthlypayments in arrears is to come. This means that claimants willneed budgeting skills that many do not have. When people dofind jobs, they face a huge change in the way they need tomanage their finances. This includes living through a periodwhere they may not have any money coming in, and having tobudget for new costs such as travelling to work.

The best support will include tools only available online, forexample the budget planners found onmoneymadeclearwales.org. People with lower numeracy skillsmay find these tools easier to use than paper budgeting, wherethey would need to do the calculations themselves. As peoplestart to access services online, they will need continuing digitalinclusion support to ensure they use the internet safely andsecurely; new internet users are particularly vulnerable to onlinefraud.

Digitally excluded people are more likely tobe isolated

These days more and more people are using social media tosupport and develop relationships with family and friends. Ifpeople can’t use the internet then they are isolated. They won’tsee news or photos and they will be excluded from the daily livesof some of their family or social groups.

Older people, disabled people and carers are disproportionatelylikely to be digitally excluded. They may also find it physicallyharder to get out and see people face to face. Research1 showsthat isolation is associated with poor health and mortality inolder people: digital inclusion can give people a better, longerlife.

The problem is compounded in rural communities, wherephysical access to jobs and services is limited.

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Digitally excluded people are more likely tohave children who underachieve at school

The exam results of pupils who do not have access to computersand the internet at home are between one and two grades lowerthan those who are online. The e-Learning Foundation estimatesthat across the UK, this affects the achievement of one millionchildren.2

This disadvantage affects not just exam results, but the whole ofa child’s school life. The e-Learning Foundation researchsuggests that 1.2 million teenagers log on to revision pagesevery week from home. If they can’t do this, their education willsuffer. More platforms of online learning resources are developedall of the time, for example the Welsh Government’s Hwb.3

Planned changes to the school curriculum place a greater focuson computing and coding skills, so children without a computerat home will be even further disadvantaged.

As schools increasingly use connected electronic devices in theclassroom, it becomes harder for digitally excluded parents toengage with their child’s learning. More and more, schools useelectronic communication to manage the vital relationshipbetween school and home.

Digitally excluded people are more likely tofeel marginalised

As more communication becomes exclusively digital, people whoare digitally excluded increasingly feel cut off from the rest ofthe world. They find it harder to participate in society. Forexample, the BBC now assumes that everyone is online, andfurther information relating to programmes is exclusivelyavailable via their website. The cumulative effect of the move todigital is that the digitally excluded feel marginalised, andsociety tends to become more polarised.

1PNAS, “Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women”, 20132The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/may/21/children-internet-access-exam-advantage, May 20113https://hwb.wales.gov.uk/

Fred is attending computerlessons at the Torfaen CarersCentre in Pontypool. When hisdaughter moved abroad, shesuggested that her dad bought alaptop and learnt how to useSkype so they could stay in touchmore easily.

Fred was a complete computerbeginner and heard about the free,drop-in sessions at the venue,which offers support andactivities to carers and peoplewith various disabilities andillnesses in the Torfaen area. Hewent along to his first sessionwith his laptop and was helped tomake a start. He is now onFacebook, e-mail and Skype afterjust a handful of lessons.

86-year-old Fred says that beingon Skype is particularlybeneficial: “I had been calling mydaughter from a mobile phone. Itwas proving rather expensive.Since being able to call her onSkype, I’m saving £10 – £15 perweek. It’s not just the money; I’mactually able to call my daughterwhenever she’s online and we canspeak for as long as we want,because it’s free to use.”

Being an older person and havinga slight disability is not deterringFred from wanting to learn more:

“I’m already doing a lot moreonline than I ever thoughtpossible. I’m not shopping onlineyet but I want to get on eBay andAmazon. There are so manythings you can get cheaper, bybeing online these days.”

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Digitally excluded people are more likely tobe disenfranchised

Whilst the turnout for elections in Wales is historically low, thereis a trend towards increasing participation in the democraticprocess through online channels, for example the increasingpopularity of e-petitions. Many people use social media andonline communities to participate in debate on socio-politicalissues. None of this is available to people who are digitallyexcluded. Their voice is not heard, and there is the danger thatthey become further disenfranchised.

The UK Government has recently made changes to the waypeople register to vote. Each individual will need to register,rather than one person registering everyone in the household,and the primary method of registering to vote is now onlinethrough the gov.uk website. There is a risk that digitally excludedpeople will have difficulty registering, and as such be leftwithout a vote.

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Digital exclusion harms us all

The Welsh Government predicted in 20084 that “thetransformational impact of technological change is bringingabout a situation where to be digitally excluded will become theequivalent of being illiterate or innumerate”. As technologyadvances and more services go online, the disabling impact ofdigital exclusion is becoming greater, so the problem is gettingworse.

The impact of digital exclusion on individuals also has an effecton society as a whole. There is the risk that we lose cohesionand break down into the “digital cans” and the “digital can’ts”.As people who are digitally excluded also tend to be excluded inother ways, this could have a significant impact on what ourcommunities feel like to live in.

There is also an obvious financial cost to society of high levels ofdigital exclusion. The transaction cost of dealing with a localcouncil, for example, is far lower if that transaction is digital.PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that the potential savings ofthis channel shift “run into billions5”. People who are digitallyexcluded are actually disproportionately more likely to usecouncil services, so the problem is compounded. Where peopleare able to access online self help tools, it reduces pressure onover-stretched front line support workers, freeing their time todeal with more complex cases that require detailed, specialistsupport.

As technology develops, the potential benefits of digitalinteractions with public services will increase. An example is thehealth service, where remote monitoring and consultation couldsubstantially reduce the need for hospital admissions and travelas well as improving the responsiveness of patient care. Again,groups of people who tend to be more digitally excluded, likeolder people, also tend to be those who are the heaviest users ofthe health service.

4Welsh Government, “Specification for Provision of Digital Inclusion Support”, 20085PricewaterhouseCoopers, “The Economic Case for Digital Inclusion”, 2008

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The Welsh Government’s Tackling Poverty Action Plan6

acknowledges the vital role digital inclusion has in tacklingpoverty. It sets targets for reducing digital exclusion in targetgroups by 2015. Although these improvements would benefitmany, the plan still envisaged that a large number of peoplewould remain digitally excluded at the end of the period. Forexample, if the targets are met, 35% of over 50s would still bedigitally excluded.

Building Resilient Communities7 (BRC) identifies digitalinclusion as a key action necessary to mitigate the impact ofpoverty. It also makes a significant contribution to the other twostrands of the Tackling Poverty agenda: preventing poverty andhelping people into work. BRC highlights the work ofCommunities 2.0 as one of the Welsh Government’s mostsignificant programmes to improve skills and thus help bringpeople out of poverty.

The refreshed Digital Inclusion Delivery Plan8 sets targets forreducing digital exclusion further beyond 2015, though there islittle detail explaining the action the Welsh Government plans totake to hit these new targets beyond 2015. We believe that whilstthe progress made so far is welcome, for the pace of change tobe maintained and these new targets met, Wales needs adedicated digital inclusion programme.

The Welsh policy context

6Welsh Government, “Tackling Poverty Action Plan”, 20127Welsh Government, “Building Resilient Communities: Taking forward the Tackling Poverty Action Plan”, 20138Welsh Government, Digital Inclusion Delivery Plan, 2014

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What Communities 2.0 has achieved

Communities 2.0 is the Welsh Government’s flagship digitalinclusion programme, delivered by a partnership of organisationsled by the Wales Co-operative Centre. It ends in March 2015. Bythen it is estimated that around 54,000 people will havereceived digital inclusion support, over twice the original projecttarget of 20,000.

The influence that Communities 2.0 has had is much wider. Theprogramme has formed “Get County Online” local strategicpartnerships in all 22 counties of Wales, and worked with themto get members to commit to providing digital inclusion supportto their own clients.

Despite its many successes, there remains much work to bedone. Half a million people remain digitally excluded in Wales.Communities 2.0 support in the Competitiveness areas of SouthEast Wales has been very limited. The huge potential of the “GetCounty Online” local strategic partnerships is only beginning tobe tapped.

The experience of delivering Communities 2.0 has been one oflearning what works in delivering digital inclusion in Wales.Some of this learning is highlighted in the interim evaluationreport 9, which supported the evolution of the programme for itssecond phase.

What works is properly supported localstrategic partnerships

The establishment of the “Get County Online” local strategicpartnerships has transformed the digital inclusion landscape inWales. Through these partnerships key local stakeholdersincluding local authorities, housing associations, CVCs andcommunity groups have committed to providing locally baseddigital inclusion support, using their own resources to supportlocal people getting online. For example, they train front-linestaff to provide digital inclusion support to clients. Members ofthese strategic partnerships also act as a driving force and co-ordinate provision locally. The impact of these partnerships hasbeen vastly greater than the cost of servicing them.

The Communities 2.0programme

9Welsh Government, “The Evaluation of Communities Two Point Zero”, 2012

Victor is a retired technician whoacquired his computer skills fromcourses run by Deudraeth Cyf aspart of the Digidol Gwynedd Project.

He has always been interested incollecting old photographs andrecording local history. He regularlycommunicated with friends andfellow collectors by phone andsent and received copies of oldphotographs by mail. Since he wasintroduced to computers he is nowable to send and receive messages,photos and documents by emailand can use the internet carry outresearch on his favourite hobby.

He is also a regular user of Skypewhich he uses to keep in touchwith family and friends.

Victor says, “These courses haveallowed me to communicate withfriends and family all over the worldin a way that I never thought possible.

“Prior to this the cost oftelephoning and postage meant Ihad to limit how and when Icommunicated with my friends,but by using email and Skype thatcost has virtually disappeared.Following the courses I bought alaptop and installed broadband athome. It is something I thought Iwould never do but it has made agreat difference to my life and Iwould recommend it to everyone.”

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The worth of the “Get County Online” local strategicpartnerships is clear, but they are only beginning to realise theirpotential. Establishing genuine strategic partnerships takes timeand skill. In many cases the local partnerships are justbeginning to develop momentum. It is essential that thesepartnerships continue to be supported so that momentum ismaintained.

It is particularly important that these local partnerships continueto be strong at a time of austerity and change in localgovernment. Cuts to local government budgets are threateningsome local digital inclusion provision, for example in libraries.Potential local government reorganisation also means focuscould be lost, as councils prioritise managing this.

What works is a national digital inclusionprogramme

A single national digital inclusion programme allows goodpractice to be easily shared across Wales. Common resourcescan be developed, training can be provided to delivery staff andthe quality of digital inclusion support can be ensured. Anational programme identifies a single agency as beingresponsible for building local partnerships which provide positiveoutcomes to both key stakeholders and individuals themselves.

The problem is a national one, and requires a national solution.Indeed, the recent Household Survey analysis concluded:

“The differences in rates of household internet access acrossWelsh local authorities are relatively small… The potential forfuture policies to be targeted at certain local authorities seemslimited therefore.”10

In its staff members, the Communities 2.0 project hasunparalleled knowledge and expertise in delivering digitalinclusion in Wales. They know the problem and understand thesolution. It seems counter-intuitive lose this expertise, to cease anational digital inclusion programme, at a time when the impactof digital exclusion in Wales is arguably greater than ever.

10Welsh Government, “National Survey for Wales, 2012-13: Digital inclusion” 2014

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What works is making digital inclusionaccessible

Often the people we are trying to reach do not respond well toformal learning opportunities. Communities 2.0 has developed arange of strategies to engage people. These include running“Digital Fridays” drop in sessions in libraries, and working withcommunity group members using a particular “hook” to getthem interested or give them confidence. The aim may be thesame, to give people the digital skills needed transform theirlives, but the starting point needs to be different to suitindividual people.

Communities 2.0 has developed expertise in differentiatingdigital inclusion support according to the abilities of clients, andin supporting people who use assistive technology. This includesequipment and devices to help people who have problems withphysical, sensory and cognitive functions.

Accessibility also means making digital inclusion supportavailable in Welsh and English. Communities 2.0 is unique inthat it develops Welsh language resources and runs sessionsthrough the medium of Welsh.

What works is a specific focus on hard toreach groups

Digital inclusion support delivered to people from hard to reachgroups needs a bespoke approach, planned and delivered inpartnership with organisations who assist and represent thesegroups. The Communities 2.0 experience is that thesearrangements can take considerable work to put into place. Inthe course of the project there have been shining examples ofsuccess. But we need a further national digital inclusion projectfor these to be replicated, to reach a more significant number ofpeople.

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There are examples in some areas of Wales of digital inclusionsupport being provided by agencies independently ofCommunities 2.0. Whilst these do not match Communities 2.0in terms of scale, reach or consistency, learning from theirexperience is useful in planning future activity.

Digital Solutions Wales

Community Housing Cymru is currently developing “DigitalSolutions Wales” in partnership with the Wales Co-operativeCentre, Communities 2.0 and others. This is a new service whichwill provide the technical expertise required to assist RegisteredSocial Landlords with developing affordable broadband schemes.RSLs are well-placed to do this, given their engagementabilities, regional coverage, relationships with tenants andresource capacity.

This initiative is important if we are to achieve the “goldstandard” of digital inclusion in Wales: that of getting peopleonline at home. This means people get the maximum benefit ofdigital inclusion: for example their children have ready access toonline learning resources. Furthermore, there is qualitativeevidence11 of Welsh people who have had their benefitssanctioned because they have been unable to complete onlinejob search activity due to a lack of access to an online computer.This has happened when a local community centre was closedfor refurbishment and that was the only access the person had.

Digital Solutions Wales aims to provide RSLs with the resourcesand experience to gain an understanding of what suppliers areout there, the full range of technical options, and anunderstanding of whether they will get value for money. It willdeliver both the technical support and the “market nous”needed to assist RSLs with developing affordable broadbandschemes.

Other digital inclusionactivity in Wales

11Oxfam Cymru, Response to Consultation, 2014

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United Welsh

United Welsh Housing Association employs a full time digitalinclusion officer. They are currently running computer classes insome of their housing schemes in Cardiff. These sessions have aclear financial inclusion element. United Welsh also havewarden-run older person accommodation schemes wherecomputer workshops and drop in sessions are being heldregularly. They hope to build a computer suite in each of theseschemes as well as install Wi-Fi. Other ideas include:

• a pilot involving giving free tablets to residents as well astraining on how to use them

• a potential equipment loan scheme• an agreement with a local credit union for tenants to enable

them to buy their own equipment.

In Forgeside in Blaenavon, the local school, shop and churchand bus services have all been closed. United Welsh isresponding to the situation by trying to get residents online, tostop them being further isolated and at a financial disadvantage.

Flintshire County Council and Flint JCP

The Flint Jobcentre is now co-located with Flintshire CountyCouncil (FCC) within a new ‘Connects’ office, enabling claimantsdirect access to JCP and FCC digital systems and support fromstaff from either organisation. In addition, where it is identifiedthat a person will benefit from more formal digital support,referrals will be made through the Flintshire Advice and SupportGateway to an appropriate service provider.

Flintshire is the only county within Wales where Universal Creditis a live benefit. The council is at the forefront of developmentsaround the Local Support Services Framework (LSSF). Councilofficers consider that whilst the LSSF may be an appropriate wayto manage the delivery of some digital inclusion support locally,there is “still a need for the national digital inclusion programmeto strategically feed into the LSSFs, ensuring that across Walesthere is consistency in approaches, delivery and quality ofoutcomes.”12

12Flintshire County Council, Response to Consultation, 2014

Members of Bargoed Deaf Clubhave been learning new digitalskills through the Get CaerphillyOnline project.

The first taster session, which wasdelivered by a Digital OutreachOfficer in tandem with a BritishSign Language translator, taughtmembers of the group how to useSkype and the demonstration ofthe video chat function allowedone couple to have their first everconversation from separate rooms.

The sessions also allowed clubmembers to get to grips withmobile devices, increasing theirconfidence in using iPads as wellas computers. The classes werereceived well, with membersusing their new skills to keep intouch with each other in betweenmeetings, and which helped themincrease their social inclusion andcontinued independence.

The group’s Digital OutreachOfficer commented, "This set ofsessions have been some of themost rewarding I’ve ever delivered.The members of Bargoed DeafClub responded very enthusiasticallyto the work we did with Skype andthe technology has revolutionisedthe way that they are able tocommunicate with one another.Before Skype, the members werereliant on text message to keep intouch, but now they are able tocommunicate much more naturallyand freely through British SignLanguage, thanks to the visualaspect that Skype offers."

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“Get Connected” Big Lottery bid

The Wales Co-operative Centre is a partner with BT and CitizensOnline in a bid to the BIG Lottery Basic Online Skills Fund.

The bid explores new ways of targeting digital inclusion supportto get at the really hard to reach and maximise the use ofresources. It is based on a systematic analysis of what isavailable where and to whom, and therefore what is needed. Thisanalytical approach could enable very specific targeting ofsupport. One example of this is that poverty is not necessarilydefined by geography: For example, disabled people in wealthyareas can be poor, so it is necessary to work with organisationsthat can support them.

If successful, the lottery bid would allow this approach to bepiloted in Wales, and potentially if successful the generalprinciples could be applied to a future larger-scale digitalinclusion project.

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The National Survey for Wales results for 2013/14 werepublished in May13. The survey included questions aboutinternet use. According to the survey, nearly one in five of Welshadults has never used the internet. This is a small improvementof 2% on the previous year’s results14. Around half a millionpeople in Wales therefore remain digitally excluded.

In terms of internet access at home, numbers are improving with75% of households being online. But levels of online homeaccess in social housing remain much lower, at just over a half,and show no increase on the previous year. A recent report15

published by Community Housing Cymru indicates that 47% ofsocial housing tenants in Wales do not use the internet. Thisamounts to over 200,000 people.

The problem has not solved itself as more people acquiresmartphones. The National Survey for Wales shows that barelyhalf of the population access the internet using their phone. Theproportion reduces considerably with older people.

There is also a strong correlation between digital exclusion andpoverty. 67% of households living in the 20% most deprivedareas in Wales had access to the internet, compared with 85%of households living in the 20% least deprived areas. Whencompared with 2012-13, the proportion of households in the20% most deprived areas which had access to the internet hadnot changed (remaining at 67%). However, for households in the20% least deprived areas it increased from 81% to 85%.

Levels of digital exclusion increase markedly with age. Internetuse is much less likely amongst people over the age of 45, withonly 25% of the over 75s having been online. The Older People’sCommissioner for Wales has described levels of ICT literacyamongst older people in Wales as “critically low”16, leading towidespread discrimination, exclusion and isolation.

So, wealthier people are increasingly likely to use the internet.There is a significant and stubborn problem amongst Wales’poorest people and most deprived communities. Older people inparticular are disadvantaged. This paper argues that these arethe very people who stand to gain most out of being online.

The extent of digitalexclusion

13Welsh Government, “National Household Survey for Wales Headline Results 2013-14”, 201414Welsh Government, “National Household Survey for Wales Headline Results 2012-13”, 201315CHC, “Digital Inclusion and Adequate Affordable Broadband for Social Housing Tenants”, 201316Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, “The Importance and Impact of Community Services within Wales”, 2014

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Tel: 0300 111 5050

Fax: 0300 111 5051

Email: [email protected]

www.walescooperative.org

Wales Co-operative CentreY Borth, 13 Beddau Way, Caerphilly, CF83 2AX

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