As the nation continues to feel the pinch, the Government’s answer to our economic problems is clear: go for growth.
While that may be the Government’s principal focus, digital inclusion must also be at the heart of all our efforts to ensure opportunities and benefits are felt at every level of society.
The Levelling Up White Paper recognises the fundamental value of digital connectivity, embedding as one of the 12 missions the goal that the UK will have nationwide gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage, with 5G coverage for the majority of the population, by 2030. While that is an admirable goal, it is critical that we advocate for the broadest interpretation of ‘the majority of the population’ to avoid repeating the legacy of mobile ‘not-spots’. We must ensure that all areas and regions within the UK can benefit from a minimum standard of digital connectivity, to remove barriers to business investment in historically disconnected areas, and increase digital skills development opportunities for both children and adults.
Though the Government’s overarching rhetoric has shifted focus from levelling up to GDP, the digital inclusion agenda presents an opportunity to do both – boost the economy while also addressing and mitigating inequalities that are being created and exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. And nobody is better placed to both act as a catalyst for local growth and spearhead digital inclusion efforts than councils with our place-based intelligence and insights. As leaders of our places, we are best situated to contribute strategically to policy development and the management and oversight of local digital skills partnerships, utilising our existing relationships with the voluntary and community sector to ensure we target those most in need to address digital inclusion.
Our experiences of the pandemic only made starker the compounding impact of digital exclusion on those within our society who are already disadvantaged. Children in poverty struggled to keep up with their wealthier peers without access to technology or adequate internet connection to study sufficiently at home, further entrenching existing disparities in education attainment.
Meanwhile, 7% of UK adults have no internet access, and this is most prevalent in remote, hard-to-reach regions which tend to fare poorly on a wealth of inequality metrics. Adults and young people in more rural or isolated areas that lack adequate broadband coverage are hindered in their efforts to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by the explosion in remote working. Recent research found an increase in hybrid and remote working could bring 3.8 million people currently locked out of the workforce back in to work.
That is not to forget the value and efficiency savings presented by opportunities to digitise public services, and the inherent sustainability benefits embedded in this. As councils face rising demand for services and, as a result, an enormous squeeze on our budgets, there has never been a stronger imperative to do more with less – we must harness the potential of digital to optimise the efficient delivery of sustainable services within our communities, but also create the conditions for thriving economies.
In Wigan we have made enormous progress with local collaboration between private, public and voluntary organisations on digital skills. We know our local businesses are desperate for people with the right skills to fill positions which will grow their businesses and the local economy. Thanks to our partnership working, our local college is now delivering digital T-levels in a fantastic new building and in collaboration with local employers. These highly valued courses are now supplying small businesses to major international companies with a talented workforce for the future with the right skills and knowledge.
The right skills supply must however be combined with the right infrastructure to really turbo-charge our digital economy. Research by the Federation of Small Businesses found that 94% of small business owners rate a reliable broadband connection as critical to the success of their business, while a survey by the CBI found that 81% of firms said they see more reliable mobile connectivity as essential. As part of the drive for growth we must invest in digital literacy to upskill our workforce and boost technological innovation, as well as ensuring we have the digital infrastructure required so that no matter where you are in the UK you are able to access gigabit-capable broadband and 4G coverage at a minimum.
And the benefits of such investment do not take long to materialise. In the first year alone of a project in Greater Manchester in which more than 1,500 public sites were connected to full fibre, the initiative delivered economic benefits worth £11.8 million while also assisting those at risk of digital exclusion and creating local jobs.
If all of local government were to get similar financial backing and empowerment, just imagine what we could collectively achieve – economically and socially - for not just our local people and places but the whole country.
Alison McKenzie-Folan is Solace spokesperson for digital leadership, and chief executive, Wigan MBC
MJ is the media partner for the Solace Summit, taking place in Birmingham on 11-13 October. See www.solace-summit.com to view the programme and book your place.
