Written evidence submitted by Tinder Foundation (DIG0008)

Our Recommendations

We strongly believe the UK government needs to set out a bold ambition of reaching a 100% digitally skilled nation, to ensure we’re not left behind as other nations make huge strides towards the same goal. The quicker we get there, the bigger the prize for the UK and our global competitiveness, so it’s now vital that we can accelerate current programmes, and make a significant financial and strategic commitment to reaching this milestone.

 

●        We believe that Basic Digital Skills are as important as numeracy and literacy in today’s society, both to individuals, the public sector and the economy as a whole.

●        The public sector tends to focus on traditional routes of learning which aren’t necessarily the right routes for digital, nor do all staff, practitioners, commissioners etc have the correct knowledge and skills to maximise digital learning.

●        Learning still tends to focus on young people when, with regards to Digital Basic Skills for example, people of all ages are impacted and getting to the root of the problem affects local economies and communities.

●        There are great opportunities in joining up hyper-local organisations and taking a joined-up approach at a very local level.  Currently, funding does not tend to drive this behaviour.

●        See our new report into the economic impact of digital skills here[1] - key finding include:

○        If the Government invest £1.65 billion in digital skills and devices over the next 10 years they would see a huge return of £14.3 billion, with a benefit of almost £10 for every £1 invested.

○        There would be productivity benefits of £358 million for individuals, and £243 million for Government in additional revenue.

○        NHS savings would amount to £121 million a year by 2025 if 100% of the population were online.

 

 

The problem

  1. There are still 12.6 million people in the UK who lack basic digital skills[2]. Of these 49% are disabled[3], 63% are over 75[4] and 60% have no formal qualifications[5]. There isn’t any one group of people who are not online, and it is not just older people or unemployed people who lack digital skills. In November 2015, we published an infographic highlighting the key stats and the main sources of research around digital inclusion. You can see a copy of it here.
  2. As a nation, we need to develop both high-level and basic skills; supporting people to gain basic online skills is as important to the economy, and to society, as teaching people to code.

 

Who we are

 

  1. Tinder Foundation’s ambition is a world where everyone benefits from digital.

 

  1. We’re best known as the UK’s leading digital inclusion delivery organisation, and we support people to improve their basic digital skills through a network of hyper-local partners, as well as with expert digital tools that help us scale our impact.

 

  1. Alongside supporting people to improve their digital skills, we also enable them to gain other essential skills, and to overcome social challenges, all using digital technology. Above everything, we always put the needs of socially excluded people first, and build programmes and solutions based on their needs.

 

  1. Together with our network we have helped over 1.7 million people to use the internet and improve their digital skills since 2010.

 

  1. Tinder Foundation earns income and receives funding from a broad range of organisations across the public, private and third sectors, including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs), NHS England, the Department for Communities and Local Government, Innovate UK, corporate partners, as well as generating income through commercial products.

 

  1. We are particularly interested in digitally excluded individuals, small businesses - particularly micro-businesses and sole traders - and third sector organisations, which we expect to take an increasingly important role in community economies. This is because these groups tend to fall outside formal education and training environments.

 

What we do

 

  1. Our network of UK online centres, based in the heart of local communities, has helped over 1.7 million people gain basic digital skills in the last five years. We have centres based in public libraries, community organisations, churches, mosques, cafes, restaurants and  prisons. Our success is based on the networked approach which we take; by embedding digital skills delivery into local communities, and ensuring it is delivered by local people, we have been able to reach people who often wouldn’t engage with traditional learning. Tinder Foundation coordinates this networked approach.

 

  1. We have developed a learning platform, Learn My Way, which contains free online learning content on basic digital skills, to support centres with their local activity and ensure consistency of learning. We have proven that this model is scalable, and because we use digital technology to deliver the training we can reflect quickly to changes in digital world in new online content which is then used by tens of thousands of local volunteers and staff.

 

  1. We are not a membership organisation - more like a club of thousands of people with a shared vision. We provide coordination, support, services and leadership, and our centres provide people in need with the opportunity to learn.

 

  1. We need clear and committed leadership from government, with a cross-departmental digital inclusion strategy backed up by a clear action plan and financial investment. Increased investment would ensure that no one is left behind. Government works in silos - we need Departments to work together to recognise what financial commitments they need to make, and may be already making, in order to ensure 100% of the population has basic online skills.

 

  1. We accept that over time people will naturally gain digital skills through their everyday life, however, trend analysis shows that unless we take action there will still be 7.9 million people who lack basic digital skills by 2025. This was highlighted in more detail in the report we commissioned with Go-ON UK in November 2015[6]

 

Who We Work With

 

Dept for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)

 

Future Digital Inclusion Fund

  1. Future Digital Inclusion is a five year contract from BIS (and latterly with additional financial contribution from HMRC). The programme aims to support one million people (200k people per year) to develop their basic online skills through the network of UK online centres. 65% of people helped by the programme are expected to progress to employment related activity and 70% to further learning.  

 

  1. Year 2 of the project covering the period 1-Apr-15 to 31-Mar-16 aims to train 200,000 people in basic online skills. 100,000 of these will use Learn My Way, with the additional 100,000 using a range of other learning products and services.  In addition, HMRC is supporting the fund with an additional £680k of investment which includes within it a Digital Ambassadors programme to train 330 HMRC employees as Digital Champions.

 

IT Equipment Fund

  1. BIS has also commissioned Tinder Foundation to procure and distribute a range of IT equipment (laptops, PCs, tablets etc) based on need, focusing on learning providers in direct receipt of Community Learning (CL) funding from the SFA delivering in multiple community venues. All funding was distributed by 31-Mar-15 and will include a 12 month longitudinal study.

 

Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)

 

  1. Working with the Libraries Task Force, Tinder Foundation has developed and distributed a £100k digital inclusion fund for libraries which sees 16 library authorities, with existing Wifi, delivering innovative digital inclusion pilots to test how mobile technology can change delivery. The action research pilot will run from September 2015 until March 2016.

 

Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)

 

English Language Competition (‘English My Way’)

  1. The programme takes place between December 2013 and June 2016 and is a consortium partnership with the BBC and British Council to support people to improve their English language skills using online content and local delivery including a 96-hour pre entry level 1 ESOL curriculum. In total the programme was tasked to engage 7,360 people (in the 52 priority areas) during Phase 1 (ending June 2015) of which, 2,352 learners completing the curriculum in a UK online centre and 840 learners then progressing onto Entry level 1 ESOL learning. Following additional funding from the Department (£1m), a second phase of delivery was commissioned to fund additional centres to help 3,600 more learners.

 

  1. The English My Way resources are available at: http://www.englishmyway.co.uk/

 

DWP

  1. Although Tinder Foundation doesn’t have a formal contract with DWP, we do have a five year long partnership with Jobcentre Plus whereby they refer digitally excluded clients or those lacking the skills and confidence to use Universal Job Match or Universal Credit to UK online centres. Approximately 35% of people learning at a UK online centres state Jobcentre Plus as their source of awareness.

 

HMRC

 

‘Work IT Out’ Programme

  1. This is a contract from HMRC for delivery of a programme between April 2015 and March 2016 to support people using four (currently offline) HMRC services in local UK online centres. The programme involves 23 UK online centres helping 4,500 people to receive face to face help and support to complete the following four services: Child Tax Credit, Child Benefit, Working Tax Credit, Tax & National Insurance. 

 

Future Digital Inclusion

  1. As noted above, HMRC is supporting the fund with BIS with an additional £680,000 of investment which includes a Digital Ambassadors programme to train 330 HMRC employees as Digital Champions.

 

NHS England

 

Widening Digital Participation

  1. This is a three year contract from NHS England, running from April 2013 to March 2016. It aims to support people to improve their digital health literacy skills, so they don’t experience health inequalities.  The three year programme will engage 350,000 people and train 200,000 people in digital health literacy.  A microsite has been developed as part of the programme to showcase the case studies and insights emerging from our in-depth evaluation over the programme’s lifetime at: http://nhs.tinderfoundation.org/

 

December 2015

 

[1] The Economic Impact of Basic Digital Skills and Inclusion in the UK, Centre for Economics and Research (Cebr), November 2015

[2] Basic Digital Skills Report, Go-ON UK, September 2015

[3] Cultures of the Internet: the Internet in Britain, OxIS, October 2013

[4] Internet Access quarterly update, Q1 2014, ONS, May 2014

[5] Cultures of the Internet: the Internet in Britain, OxIS, October 2013

[6] The Economic Impact of Basic Digital Skills and Inclusion in the UK, Centre for Economics and Research (Cebr), November 2015