Event Report: Roundtable on the Government’s Digital Inclusion Action Plan
On Tuesday 11th March 2025, the Digital Inclusion APPG held a roundtable session on the “Digital Inclusion Action Plan”.
The event was hosted and chaired by Co-Chair of the Digital Inclusion APPG Dan Aldridge MP. Speakers included Chair of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Action Committee Baroness Armstrong, Shadow Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Viscount Camrose, Digital Inclusion APPG Officer Lord Clement-Jones, Labour MP for Stafford Leigh Ingham MP and Labour MP for North Somerset Sadik al-Hassan MP.
Please see below for minutes of the event.
Dan Aldridge MP opened the session welcoming attendees to the second of the APPG’s planned events across 2025. He started by stating his excitement for the year ahead and shared his delight that so many representatives from industry were present in the room, especially given the fact that the Government’s Action Plan had only been released a few weeks before. He then noted that during his pre-Parliamentary career at the BCS (British Computing Society), it had become clear to him that the issue of digital inclusion had become a modern measure of poverty. One manifestation of this, he said, was during the General Election campaign, when he visibly saw the effect digital exclusion had on people being unable to upload their e-signature to register to vote – demonstrating digital inclusion has a direct effect on democracy. He went on to note there is much good work being done in the UK to correct this, especially in industry and civil society, and the APPG’s coordinating role is absolutely vital in this. He added that the potential convening and legislative power of the APPG is huge and could deliver significant results on dealing with disinformation and a lack of trust in society. He then handed over to Chair of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Action Committee Baroness Armstrong to reveal more details of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Action Plan.
Baroness Armstrong introduced herself saying that during her career as an MP in the House of Commons between 1997 and 2010, the issue of digital inclusion was still prevalent but manifested itself in a different and far less complex way. She added that whilst she was in government, she had responsibility for local government and neighbourhood policy in the Cabinet Office and her brief covered social exclusion. She told attendees that whilst she was doing the policy handover from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown with current Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle MP (who was her SpAd at the time), digital inclusion was a key issue the Government had earmarked to prioritise. This was evident, she suggested, of how long running this issue is, and how the Government had over the past fifteen years not done enough to combat it as it has evolved.
In her new role, she noted that she had been appointed by Peter Kyle MP as he wanted someone who wasn’t a tech expert but knew about exclusion more generally – socially digitally, and geographically. The Digital Inclusion Action Plan, she suggested, therefore had to sit alongside a simple and topline guide to help people who experience all forms of exclusion. She added that it was her challenge to get to work as soon as possible, work at pace and empower people to help other people in their communities get online.
She continued that it was vital that the Government’s delivery had to become more effectively digitalised, with more input from industry, charity and civil society experts. To this end, she announced that the Government is establishing a cross-departmental digital exclusion committee with representatives on it from a wide range of groups including disabled communities, women’s charities and older people. The committee, she suggested, will be a recognition of the fact that digital exclusion was a broad but urgent agenda, however it still requires direction, and she asked the group to provide clarity on where its priorities should lie and give examples of which Government schemes are effective and those which are not. Finishing her section, she expressed her desire for the Action Plan to empower local people and initiatives and be felt across the country, for example in job centres, HMRC and the DVLA.
Shadow Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology Minister, Viscount Camrose then thanked Baroness Armstrong for her contributions and stated that he was looking forward to seeing the details of the new plan. He added that it was great to see how full the room was with representatives from private business and campaign groups. He said it was his view that access, skills and behaviours should all be focussed on in a three-pronged approach as part of the strategy.
Starting with access, he told attendees this was the area the strategy can move most quickly and effectively in. Access, he added, was inextricably linked to issues around the cost of the living crisis. He referenced studies which indicate that upwards of 35% of people say it's challenging to afford to be online. The UK had done well in making access affordable, he noted, through things like social tariffs. He also referenced that the average price of Gigabit was 50p in the UK compared to upwards of 1.18 euros in Italy and called on the Action Plan to continue to pioneer access initiatives. Moving onto skills, he said it is vital that the Government get the fundamentals right and take a cross-departmental approach. He called on the strategy to look to get the most benefit out of existing schemes such as the Digital Skills Council, the Digital and Computing Skills Taskforce and the Cyber Explore Programme. Finally, on behaviours, Viscount Camrose said this was the most nebulous area to encourage improvements in quickly. To this end, he said the strategy should look at changing behaviours in the long run and help people understand the links exclusion had on online safety and digital addictions.
More widely, Viscount Camrose called the Action Plan a positive move. He welcomed the Government’s broad ranging and holistic approach to the issue and said it was really positive to see the extent to which the private sector was included. To counter this, he noted some potential risks of the Action Plan. He added that it was vital that the lan didn’t just act as another layer of unnecessary bureaucracy that doesn’t have an effect out of DSIT. He also said he wants to see more measures of success integrated into the plan, which are more than just financial. He added that the plan should recognise that one of the difficulties of digital exclusion is that the target of ‘success’ is always moving – meaning the Action Plan had to be well coordinated, adaptable and agile.
Dan Aldridge MP said that it was great that the issue of digital inclusion had received cross-party support, so thanked both speakers. Agreeing with Viscount Camrose, he also noted that he’d hugely welcome further feedback on the Action Plan. Adding that MPs in the new Parliament are a lot younger and more likely to be ‘online’ than before, Dan said he hopes politicians will be more receptive to this issue than previously. He then opened the floor to the group.
Director of Policy and Public Affairs at BT Alex Towers said that for the last few years the sector has been drifting without direction on digital inclusion - especially since lockdown. It had become quite clear that the sector needed solutions and policies to be joined up across Government, he added. He also noted that it was positive that the plan was called “First Steps” as it allowed for more detail to be added in, when necessary, as the issue evolves. Finishing up his section, he suggested that affordability had to be integrated into the plan. Even £15 a month social tariffs require Government support, he noted. He expressed his desire to be a member of the aforementioned Committee brought up by Baroness Armstrong.
CEO of the Good Things Foundation Helen Milner opened her section saying it was encouraging to see that five Secretaries of States had all signed off the Action Plan, meaning it had received cross-departmental backing. To this end, she said it was vital that the plan had national, local and regional support with an empowered policy framework which sat behind it.
On the issue of funding, Helen added that the Action Plan was only going to get serious funding if the sector can prove that there is evidence that digital inclusion would lead to serious and sustained economic growth. She added that the sector needs to show off the £13bn opportunity digital inclusion has and highlight that it can be embedded into the upcoming “Get Britain Working” plan. To this end, she suggested that there is a £10bn a year opportunity to get people out of joblessness through digital inclusion schemes.
In terms of new ideas to add into the Action Plan, Helen noted that each Department should put money into a singular fund for it so that as an issue, it would become “Baked in not bolted on” to Government policy. In addition to this, she called for a 1% Digital Services Tax to be ringfenced for inclusion initiatives.
Digital Innovation and Partnerships Lead at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Beena Puri opened her section welcoming the Action Plan and noted that it was encouraging to see each Government Department working together. She warned however that the Plan cannot become a ‘postcode lottery’ and has to recognise local differences – for example, Manchester having higher levels of poverty rates than the rest of the UK. The plan, she suggested, has to empower regions across the UK and support a national framework.
Managing Director at North Somerset Training, Ivi Paduim-Quan then added that even comparatively small amounts of funding can have a huge impact on communities. For example, she noted that she had been working since 2011 to bring digital inclusion to the Weston-Super Mare community. Funding, she argued, had to be accompanied by investment in people and local leaders. Face to face support is absolutely vital for ensuring digital confidence and take-up, she suggested.
Dan Aldridge MP then thanked both Beena and Ivi for providing localised perspectives. He added that it was crucial that the Action Plan shouldn't ignore areas currently not covered by a Combined Authority – of which there are currently 123 Labour constituencies.
Senior Public Affairs Advisor at Virgin Money Oonagh O’Connor then welcomed the Action Plan and called on it to be intertwined with regional and cross-departmental needs. She also suggested that there should be a sub-group put in place to focus on issues related to financial and digital exclusion together.
Head of Impact Strategy at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) Natasha Armstrong then added that her group had conducted research into the nature of future skills. To this end, she added that, according to NFER research, when you map the labour market of 2030 onto predicted employment skills, it is obvious that the UK needs more online upskilling, especially around information literacy, communication and problem solving. The Action Plan therefore had to be future proofed to ensure it encouraged the take-up of future jobs and boosted relevant skills. She then promised to send around recent NFER research to the Parliamentarians in the room.
Head of Corporate Responsibility at Virgin Media 02 Simon Davis then added that he wants to see the Action Plan be bold and have the confidence to address online safety and wellbeing as well as exclusion. He also asked the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to provide some clarity on the nature of the Digital Inclusion fund announced as part of the Action Plan. To this end, he suggested that the amount of money available within the fund isn’t necessarily as important as its mechanics and scope of work. He finished his section suggesting that within the Action Plan – and the APPG more widely - device manufacturers should be involved more.
BCS Chair of Digital Divide Specialist Group, and Founder of #JoiningTheDots Freddie Quek added to proceedings suggesting that the Action Plan could be instrumental in being the rallying cry to get the sector united in its support for digital inclusion. Despite this, he added that it was essential that private industry had more opportunities to provide input into the plan. As well as this, he suggested the plan should be as holistic as possible and pioneer inclusion initiatives on multiple fronts. He finished up noting that the BCS wanted to help on implementing the Action Plan’s proposals but added that it wasn’t overly clear on the mechanisms available to do so.
Professor of Digital Culture at the University of Liverpool Professor Simeon Yates started his contributions by thanking the civil service for making the Action Plan a cross-governmental strategy with clear lines of ownership. He added that, speaking to Viscount Camrose’s point on measurement, there is currently an abundance of techniques used by the civil service with too many overlapping layers of what defines ‘success’. He therefore suggested that a clearer definition of digital inclusion should underpin the plan. In addition, he suggested that the plan was missing citizen’s voices meaning that it could ignore the micro levels of exclusion experienced by people. For example, he noted that his research on the Minimum Digital Living Standard indicates that the list of factors contributing to exclusion is often individualised and random – it cannot be boiled down to a theory or template. Another potential gap he outlined was over the plan’s omission not addressing the skills gap in post 18 education. The Action Plan, he suggested, had to target people who, for example, had no degree or technical qualification. Finally, whilst broadly welcoming the plan, he added that it can be vital for helping the Government realise its economic goals and get value for money in the economy.
Controller for Distribution at the BBC Helen Burrows then noted that because the nature of TV consumption is changing rapidly – with satellite coming to an end in the 2030s – the TV transition had to be acknowledged within the Action Plan’s brief. The Action Plan, she added, should be about joining up the different positive pieces of work the Government does in the area and provide joined up support for people.
Officer of the Digital Inclusion APPG Lord Clement-Jones noted that the aspirations of the Digital Inclusion Action Plan are great and really encouraging, especially for industry. However, he noted that delivery is now absolutely key and called on those business representatives in the room to carry on their work spotlighting the economic and growth benefits digital inclusion can have. He also noted his agreement with Viscount Camrose that measurement is also key, and the Action Plan still needs to work out which financial levers are most important. To make the Action Plan effective, he also added that it needs to build on local experience and work out how and where digital inclusion initiatives have been tied into health and social services provision successfully. Finally, he expressed his desire for the Action Plan to recognise internet access as a necessity and act as a “One Stop Shop” for all the various digital inclusion initiatives available across Government.
Programme Support Coordinator for Cyber, Digital & Technology at the Local Government Association (LGA) Grace Perks said she was really pleased about the inclusion of local government into the Action Plan. She suggested that the powers the plan had given to local authorities were testament to the work they had put in on this issue across the last few years. She also noted that the associated Digital Inclusion Fund is wholly exciting for the sector but should have a mechanism within it that highlights the various and disparate ‘success stories’ from around the UK in local government. This would make policy tailored to local areas, she added.
Dan Aldridge MP agreed and noted that the LGA’s role in balancing out delivery across UK is vital.
Co-Founder and CEO at InnovateHer Chelsea Slater welcomed the plan but called on it to consider a gendered approach to digital inclusion whereby it encourages women and girls into digital and tech in a way that didn't jeopardise their confidence or safety. She noted that the plan could recognise the different barriers to entry girls face with getting online safely and suggested that they still lag behind boys in maths and science achievements – partially because of the gendered digital divide. To do this, the Action Plan should empower the Government to collaborate with grassroots organisations in the area, she concluded.
Digital Inclusion and Alliances Lead at Deloitte Jess Reddy noted that she was incredibly happy to see the plan released. However, she added that there needs to be clarity on how the sector can help Government implement this beyond the warm words seen so far. For example, she noted that Deloitte donates all of its end-of-life devices to vulnerable communities but said more needs to be done to ramp this up on a national and cross-Governmental level to roll this out more widely.
Director of Evidence and Engagement at Good Things Foundation Emma Stone welcomed the plan and suggested the most impressive thing about it was that five Secretaries of States had signed it and given it their support. She added that because the sector had been waiting so long for a Governmental plan or strategy, the issues associated with digital exclusion remain familiar to policymakers and industry. To this end, she suggested Baroness Armstrong is a great person to lead this policy given her history in social exclusion policy.
Head of Social Impact at Nominet Chris Ashworth OBE warmly welcomed the plan and said it was great to see some tangible results after 11 years since the last initiative was launched. He did however note that social inequality should be wired into the plan more effectively with a recognition of ‘who’ is most affected by digital exclusion. To this end, he said that in one form or another between 7 and 9 million people experience online exclusion – whether that's through skills, access or confidence. For too long he said, the industry had relied on an incrementalist approach using piecemeal policy solutions that often lagged behind sectoral needs. This only really changed briefly during the pandemic when people were in essence ‘forced’ to get online, Chris said. In addition, digital inclusion, Chris suggested, benefits the State most when it is wide reaching and can be felt by those ‘hardest’ to reach. In effect, the plan cannot be deemed a success if it only reaches those groups and communities that are low hanging fruit for the Government. It needs to break the fabric what's expected from State-run programmes, Chris concluded.
Government Affairs Manager at Vodafone Vanessa Higham said she was really encouraged by the plan as individuals in the room had been calling for a national strategy and increased Governmental collaboration for years. Building off this, she said it was vital that the separate digital inclusion initiatives across the various departments all aligned their thinking under the Action Plan and viewed digital inclusion as a cross-sectoral challenge and opportunity.
Senior Public Affairs Manager at CityFibre Emma Shearer said the plan was a welcome step but it has to focus on reaching the roughly 500,000 people who could be classified as ‘hard to reach’ by connecting the disparate string of community hubs across the UK. To partner this, she suggested that the plan should explore understanding how to use fibre networks to disperse public service delivery. Finishing up her section, she added that she was intrigued and excited about the potential to leverage the investment associated with the new fund as mentioned.
Principal for Public Policy at Ofcom Sarah Murray said she warmly welcomed the plans announced. She added that the plan should consider three strands of combatting digital exclusion - availability, access and ability. Ofcom had sought to do this through their work on Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network as well as creating a regulatory framework to ensure competition and combat scams and fraud. The plan, she suggested, could not underestimate the psychological impact of people being scammed and not trusting their own devices.
Labour MP for North Somerset Sadik al-Hassan MP thanked the APPG for bringing together so many effective and important stakeholders in the room. He added that he was looking forward to contributing to the Action Plan with further policy suggestions.
Head of External Affairs and Insights for Digital Inclusion at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Sean O’Connor made the room aware that there was a 26th March deadline to apply to join the Governmental Committee as well as a 9th April deadline for the wider Action Plan call to evidence.
Lead Researcher at Demos Billy Huband-Thompson then added that the plan needed to recognise the role schools can play in rolling out digital inclusion initiatives. They can, he suggested, allow for bottom-up approach that could ‘felt’ by people and students across the country. Empowering schools can also help rollout the Government’s digital skills agenda, he said.
Finishing up proceedings, Chair of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Action Plan Baroness Armstrong said that she was also pleased to see five individual Secretaries of States support the plan but added that she hoped that it would garner additional support as it was rolled out across Government. Replying to the points made by industry speakers in the room, she added that it was important for external stakeholders from business and charity to speak to individual Ministers across Government when they get the chance. Talking to Ministers, she suggested, is the best way to understand and improve the policy detail. She also agreed that banks have a vital role to play in rolling out the plan– allowing for cross-sectoral, face-to-face coordination.
She also added that the plan needed to reduce inequality from the bottom up and not represent an individualised piecemeal policy development. It was imperative it created an effective evidence-base of tangible support for people and enabled the very poorest in the UK to be supported. She said it was her desire to integrate this plan into the ‘mainstream thinking’ of the Government and fundamentally change the experience of people in the UK.
Dan Aldridge MP then thanked Baroness Armstrong and the wider room for the session, which he said he thought was very productive. He added that his door is always open and that he looks forward to fleshing out more detail of the plan and discussing it in future sessions.