Grahame Morris – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Grahame Morris on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that people unable to access the internet are not (a) disadvantaged as consumers and (b) denied access to government services.

Matthew Hancock

Information provided by ONS for the period January to March 2015 shows that 11% of adults in the UK (5.9 million) had never used the internet. In 2015 14% of households in Great Britain had no internet access.Official data at local constituency level is not available.

The Digital Inclusion Strategy launched in 2014 outlined that by 2016 we will have reduced the number of people who are offline by 25% and by 2020 everyone who can be online should be online. 85 partners work with government to reach this goal, including the Tinder Foundation, Post Office, Argos, Barclays, LGA, Go ON UK, Society of Chief Librarians, Digital Unite and Age UK.

The government recognises that there are many reasons for not being online. We will always provide assisted digital support for people who need help accessing government services.

Many of these partners have local delivery networks, and work with hard to reach groups. Details of local resources can be found from a number of sources, including libraries and the Post Office. A range of services are available in Easington, including Easington Colliery Library, which provides internet and email facilities; and there are a number of UK Online Centres in the Easington area.