Private Members’ Bill: Access to Telecommunications

• Councils want to go further to tackle regional inequalities in broadband infrastructure and accelerate the roll out in hard-to-reach communities. Local authority digital champions act as a central point of contact, helping to extend gigabit-capable broadband across the country as quickly as possible. We are therefore calling on Government to fully fund a digital champion in every local authority.
• Councils are key to delivering digitalisation initiatives that meet the needs of their local communities. We welcome the charter agreed by government and telecoms firms to pause the forced roll out of the Public Switch Telephone Network switchover (digital phone switchover) and protect vulnerable people. However, the charter makes no mention of local authorities and the crucial role they play in supporting vulnerable residents. The LGA continues to call for greater awareness and coordination to align communications messaging and ensure sectors and consumers, including the most vulnerable, are protected and prepared for the upgrade process.
• Councils play a leading role in tackling digital exclusion. Council functions such as children’s services, adult social care, adult education, business support and libraries all have contact with people who may be digitally excluded, councils run initiatives to tackle digital exclusion such as digital skills improvement support and refurbish old equipment for donation or lending to residents who lack appropriate devices. Councils also have well established relationships with local voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations who are an effective channel to socially excluded groups.
• Digital access and skills are essential to enabling people to fully participate in an increasingly digital society and councils play a key role in helping people to get online and learn digital skills.
• We are concerned that councils in rural communities continue to lag behind more densely populated areas in the roll-out of 5G and wider improvements to mobile digital connectivity. We look forward to working with the Government to strengthen investment and innovation to ensure universal access to high-quality digital infrastructure.

We live in an increasingly digital world, with banking, democratic functions, job applications, benefits and other public services increasingly being moved online. Digital skills, equipment and reliable digital connectivity are crucial to enable people to fully participate in society and engage in 21st century education and employment systems.

According to recent LGA research there has been important progress in closing the digital divide in the coverage of superfast and ‘decent’ fixed broadband. But a new digital divide has emerged in gigabit and full fibre coverage. The top 10 per cent of district/unitary local authority areas enjoy full fibre coverage of over 60 per cent, while the bottom 10 per cent have less than 10 per cent of premises able to access these services.

A substantial gap remains between rural and urban areas in terms of gigabit coverage. In September 2022, gigabit coverage was 4 per cent in predominantly rural areas, versus 79 per cent in predominantly urban areas.

We are also concerned that councils in rural communities continue to lag behind more densely populated areas in the roll-out of 5G and wider improvements to mobile digital connectivity. We look forward to working with the Government to strengthen investment and innovation to ensure universal access to high-quality digital infrastructure.

Fixed broadband penetration is 15 percentage points lower in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived. However, the more deprived areas of England tend to use their broadband lines more heavily. Average monthly data usage is 46 per cent higher in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas. Fixed broadband penetration is positively correlated with economic activity and educational attainment. Each 10 percentage point increase in fixed broadband penetration is associated with a 4 percentage point increase in the economic activity rate and about three points in the average Attainment 8 score at Key Stage 4.

The recent House of Lords Digital Committee report on digital exclusion found the Government does not have a ‘credible strategy’ on tackling digital exclusion and reinforces our own findings that there is little strategic guidance to councils from Government on closing the digital divide. Councils know their communities best and have the responsibilities, relationships, and assets to play a key role in encouraging older, vulnerable, and disadvantaged households to get online. We welcome Government’s response to the report, in particular the commitment to establish a cross-Whitehall ministerial group, and reference to the LGA’s digital inclusion network. However, the response does not go far enough to address the Committee report recommendations, and does little to include local government at the heart of tackling digital inclusion.

Councils continue to play a leading role in digital connectivity, with many running the local Superfast Broadband Programme interventions, and this has built up a pool of internal expertise that has helped facilitate both roll-out and take-up. Councils are well placed to accelerate broadband roll out, however with the centralised management of Project Gigabit within Building Digital UK (BDUK) there is risk this local expertise could be lost. Given the right funding and opportunity to work in partnership with government, councils could play a far greater role targeting communities most in need, driving demand stimulation and providing digital upskilling to support the rollout.

Councils also play an important role tackling digital exclusion. Council functions such as children’s services, adult social care, adult education, business support and libraries all have contact with people who may be digitally excluded, councils run initiatives to tackle digital exclusion such as digital skills improvement support and refurbish old equipment for donation or lending to residents who lack appropriate devices. Councils also have well established relationships with local VCS organisations who are an effective channel to socially excluded groups.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s (DSIT) Wireless Infrastructure Strategy recognises the value of local government digital champions. The strategy identifies the role as integral to the development and implementation of a local Digital Infrastructure Strategy and says digital champions promote the social and economic benefits of improved connectivity to residents and businesses in their role.

The Government has decided that the planned transfer of all analogue lines (also called the public switched telephone network or PSTN) to digital internet-based infrastructure by December 2025 should be “Industry-led”. This will see analogue-based products completely phased out by 2025 and replaced with an all-digital network. These new telephone lines run via the internet and therefore users of a landline will need to have a broadband router. 

Many local authorities provide remote monitoring to citizens through Adult Social Care or Housing via a system known as Telecare which are currently connected to the analogue PSTN. An estimated 1.8 million people in the UK currently use telecare services. Of these, 1.3 million use alarms in their own homes and 0.5 million in a range of care homes, supported housing and sheltered living arrangements. 

Upgrading, replacing and reconnecting devices to the digital network will be extremely costly and is not limited to Adult Social Care. Council colleagues across IT, transportation, and security are also reporting an indirect impact on our most vulnerable citizens.

In response to the challenges facing vulnerable residents, the LGA has developed a toolkit to help councils to communicate these changes to their residents and a digital switchover hub. The LGA has also produced guidance and recommendations for councils to reduce the risk of scams.

We welcome the recent Charter, agreed by government and telecoms firms, to stop the forced roll out of the switchover in order to protect vulnerable people until adequate protective measures are in place. However, these further commitments from Government and industry make no mention of local authorities and the key role they play in supporting and identifying vulnerable people. 

Further work needs to be undertaken to provide a clearer assessment of the costs to councils, communities and businesses arising from this rollout. The LGA continues to call for greater awareness, data sharing, testing and coordination from government, so that the wider public is prepared for the potential impact on homes and businesses, as there are no plans for a national awareness campaign by the Government of Ofcom.

Archie Ratcliffe, Public Affairs and Campaigns Advisor

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