Agenda item

The Committee requested a report to review progress made against actions in the Digital Inclusion Action Plan over the last year, and to consider the degree to which the actions contributed to the achievement of their intended objectives.

Cllr Glynis Phillips, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, and Susannah Wintersgill, Director of Communications, Strategy, and Insight, have been invited to present the report and to answer the Committee’s questions.

The Committee is recommended to consider the report, to ask any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising from the report and discussion.

Cllr Glynis Phillips, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Susannah Wintersgill, Director of Communications, Strategy, and Insight, Tim Spiers, Director of IT, and Elena Grant, Policy Officer, attended to present the report on the draft Digital Inclusion Action Plan for 2023/24.  Cllr Phillips reminded the Committee that this had grown out of the Digital Inclusion Strategy which had been reviewed by the Committee previously and which had been approved by Cabinet in the summer of 2022.

The action plan was a work in progress which was to be overseen the Digital Inclusion Working Group but was a cross-council initiative which needed to be factored in to everyone’s thinking.  Cllr Phillips advised that it was important for the Council to be encouraging digital inclusion whilst being acutely aware of the potential for digital exclusion.

The action plan set out the long-term ambitions for the Council, broken down into actions, and the directorate that would be leading on that action.

The strategy itself made reference to improving outcomes for small businesses but they were absent from the action plan.  It was agreed that should be remedied and that the Council should work with the City Council and the District Councils on that.

The Business Intellectual Property Resource, based at the Central Library in Oxford, was a key resource but it was subject to Government funding.  The Committee recognised its value and made clear its hope that such funding would continue.

The Digital Infrastructure Programme which led on connectivity across the county was addressing concerns about rural broadband, social tariffs, and isolated communities. 

Libraries were providing considerable support to those who needed practical support accessing the internet and web-based forms.

The Council had worked closely with Getting Oxfordshire Online and had donated 300 laptops to be given to people accessing foodbanks, refugees, and those who were, or risked becoming, homeless.  The Committee suggested that it would be useful for the action plan working group to be aware of community action groups which could support the Council in refurbishing equipment for vulnerable residents. 

There was discussion about the importance of children being disadvantaged by not having access to computers or tablets.  This had been highlighted during the COVID pandemic and the work with the Education Endowment Fund (EEF) to ensure that the right equipment, access, and programmes could be promoted to families was key.  An audit of current availability would be useful and this could be requested of maintained schools and suggested to academies.

There was a Local Government Association (LGA) Digital Inclusion Network which the Council participated in and which was an important way of sharing knowledge and experiences across different local authorities.  There was also a regular meeting with the Council and the district councils dealing with digital infrastructure chaired by the Cabinet Member.  Closer work on the digital inclusion charter across the Councils was to be encouraged.

There was a recognition that the Council’s website had been less user-friendly than was ideal but it was improving gradually and the Directors of Communication, Insight, and Strategy and of IT were working together on a digital presence package which focused on the part of the website that dealt with recruitment and careers.  The pages on fostering had also been improved to be made more engaging. Work was also planned on the areas of the site relating to customer services and to the music service.

Concerns were raised about the risk of digital exclusion for some older people in particular when, increasingly, car parks and local banks and even GP surgeries required the use of smartphones or of computing software to engage.  Mobile ticketing for those without appropriately-enabled mobile telephones was a real challenge. 

The consequences of artificial intelligence were absent from the strategy.  The proposed closure of railway station ticket offices would raise particular problems for the digitally excluded. 

The potential for a research project in partnership with the universities and businesses about what a fully digitally engaged learning package would look like in a school was suggested as being worth considering.

The Committee resolved to NOTE the report.