Written evidence from Good Things Foundation DYE0014
Overview
Good Things Foundation is the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity. We work to fix the digital divide with our National Digital Inclusion Network - comprising over 3,500 hyperlocal hubs providing free digital inclusion support, many supporting people experiencing disabilities and/or health conditions.
We believe everyone should have the confidence, skills, support and access to use digital technology, participate in society and benefit from the digital world. To make this a reality, we deliver a range of free digital inclusion services through our Network, including: the National Databank, providing free mobile connectivity data; the National Device Bank, supplying free, refurbished devices to people in need; and Learn My Way, our free flagship basic digital skills platform, which has supported thousands to get online.
Good Things Foundation is also part of the Minimum Digital Living Standards (MDLS) project, which is working to establish a nationally agreed benchmark for what ‘good’ looks like for households living in the digital age. The report on Minimum Digital Living Standard for Households with Children was launched in March 2024 and the summary is available here: https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/insights/the-minimum-digital-living-standard-for-households-with-children/
Good Things Foundation’s response
As the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity, our response reflects a concern at high levels of digital exclusion among disabled people and people with life-impacting conditions, and the impacts of this on access to and progression in employment and across people’s lives.
In the 2021 report, the positive potential of digital inclusion on disability employment was recognised in the context of the shift to remote working, enabling flexibility for many (not all). The 2021 report also recognised how digital exclusion is a barrier to employment and opportunity.
Recent evidence from a range of sources reveals a worrying picture, despite some progress.
Disabled people are more likely to live in low income households; there is a well-evidenced link between living in poverty (and related characteristics such as unemployment, low educational attainment) and experiencing digital exclusion (Allmann 2022; Dixon 2022; UK Parliament 2023; Lloyds 2023; Deloitte 2023; MDLS 2024).
In working-age households with children, households headed by a parent who is disabled or has a life-impacting health condition are twice as likely to be below the Minimum Digital Living Standard for Households with Children (‘MDLS’) - a benchmark defined by members of the public of what is ‘enough’ to feel digitally included in today’s society. This is independent of other indicators including low socio-economic status, ethnicity, benefit receipt, and family size. Qualitative research conducted as part of the MDLS study identified the importance of additional hardware and software such as screen readers or dictation software (2024).
The latest Lloyds Consumer Digital Index (2023) shows progress measured in the proportion of disabled people with the ‘foundation’ level basic digital skills but the gap remains significant: 75% of people with an impairment compared to 90% of people without an impairment have the foundation level digital skills (Lloyds 2023, p.45). Improvements in available assistive technology could be a contributing factor for some people, such as people with visual impairments benefiting from the introduction of dictation tools as standard on some platforms.
Continuation of entitlements to remote and flexible working are essential in enabling disability employment. Some disabled people’s working environment can be optimised to meet their needs when working from home. Nine in ten disabled workers who worked from home during the pandemic wanted to continue doing so at least some of the time (Lloyds 2023).
With regard to disability employment specifically, the industry and Government have defined the Essential Digital Skills Framework - which includes defining the 20 digital tasks regarded as essential for work. Although the Essential Digital Skills Framework was defined with the Department for Education, there is currently no clear ownership of the Framework by the Government, and Government, industry and civil society rely on Lloyds Banking Group to collect data and report annually against it.
The latest Essential Digital Skills for Work report found that:
● c3.2 million people are unable to do any of the essential digital tasks required for work. Disabled people are over-represented in this group: 47% living with an impairment compared to 31% UK average (Lloyds and FutureDotNow 2023);
● c16.8 million people can do all of the essential digital tasks required for work. Disabled people are under-represented in this group: 74% people living with no impairment compared to 64% UK average (Lloyds and FutureDotNow 2023).
The 2021 report also highlighted the value of both national programmes and hyperlocal support to enable disabled people to gain, retain and progress in employment. Good Things Foundation’s recent experience and evaluation of national and regional digital inclusion programme delivery, always working with community-based partners, reflects this conclusion (Good Things Foundation evaluation reports: Digital Lifeline Fund Evaluation Report 2022, Digital Skills Pathway for Shared Prosperity 2023).
Good Things Foundation is currently working with an independent evaluator to measure the impact and learn the lessons from ‘Power Up’ - a grant-funded programme delivered by Good Things Foundation with JP Morgan Chase Foundation aiming to embed holistic, person-centred digital inclusion support into the services delivered by specialists in employment support and/or financial inclusion and wellbeing. Delivery partners include The Crumbs Project (working with people with learning disabilities in Bournemouth) and Deaf Action. We expect to publish the learning in the summer; we would be delighted to host an online or in-person session to share interim findings if that would be of interest to the Committee. (More information is available on Good Things Foundation’s website: https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/what-we-do/our-partnerships/jobs-and-money/power-up/)
Priority actions
Fixing the digital divide is not sufficient alone to reduce the disability employment gap, but it is now an essential component. Digital inclusion - having suitable kit, reliable and fast connectivity, and the skills and support to use the internet safely and confidently - can be a powerful enabler for disabled people to access employment and opportunity more widely.
Good Things Foundation asks the UK Government to prioritise fixing the digital divide as an enabler for disability employment. We advocate for:
● UK Government to lead and convene around digital inclusion - establishing a Cross-Government Digital Inclusion Unit led by No. 10, cascaded into departments including DWP;
● UK Government to co-invest with businesses to ensure all communities have in-person, trusted support with digital inclusion through the National Digital Inclusion Network;
● UK Government frontline services to work with Good Things Foundation and support better signposting for people who face digital exclusion to a nearby community access point or digital inclusion hub;
● UK Government to recognise internet access is essential and reduce the VAT on broadband social tariffs to 0% so people in poverty can more easily afford connectivity;
● UK Government to lead by example in donating redundant devices to the National Device Bank to be professionally wiped clean and distributed to adults and households without a suitable device.
All these actions would benefit the reduction of the disability employment gap. In addition, we would encourage DWP to consider:
● How the Department for Work and Pensions can improve signposting to available support such as Good Things Foundation’s National Digital Inclusion Network and support available from AbilityNet to reduce the disability employment gap;
● How the Department for Work and Pensions currently disposes of e-waste – specifically IT equipment – and whether it can lead by example in donating IT equipment to the National Device Bank as other public sector pioneers have done (Good Things Foundation and University of Liverpool 2023);
● How procurement of disability employment support – nationally and through regional and local government – can be improved to embed digital inclusion support into provision;
● How access to suitable devices, sufficient connectivity, and support from community learning providers to build essential digital skills can be better supported through schemes like Access to Work and the Jobcentre Plus Discretionary Fund.
References
Allman, K. (2022) UK Digital Poverty Evidence Review 2022
Deloitte (2023) Circular electronics for social good: Reusing IT equipment to bridge the digital divide
FutureDotNow (2024) Roadmap update: The 2024 plan for action and progress so far
Good Things Foundation (2022) Local communities and the internet ecosystem: Scaling solutions to data poverty in the UK - Dixon. K
Good Things Foundation (2023) Disability, equality and digital inclusion
Good Things Foundation (2023) Digital Lifeline Fund Evaluation Report
Good Things Foundation (2023) The Digital Skills Pathway for Shared Prosperity
Good Things Foundation and University of Liverpool (2023) Public Sector Pioneers: Reusing IT equipment to bridge the digital divide
Good Things Foundation (2024) Power Up
Lloyds Bank (2023) UK Consumer Digital Index
Lloyds and FutureDotNow (2023) UK Essential Digital Skills for Work
Minimum Digital Living Standard (2024) A Minimum Digital Living Standard for Households with Children: Overall Report - by Yates, S., Hill, K., Blackwell, C., Davis, A., Padley, M., Stone, E., Polizzi, G., D’Arcy, J., Harris, R., Sheppard, P., Singleton, A., Ye, Z., Carmi, E., Garikipati, S., Barrera, P.
UK Parliament (2023), Good Things Foundation - Written Evidence (DCL0042) for the House of Lords Communications and Digital Select Committee inquiry ‘Digital exclusion and the cost of living’ - Stone, E.
April 2024