Event report: The Impact of Data Poverty on Access to Financial Services and the Labour Market

On Tuesday 4 July, the Data Poverty APPG held a roundtable on The Impact of Data Poverty on Access to Financial Services and the Labour Market. The session focused on four questions: How many people are struggling to access essential financial services – including online banking and labour market opportunities due to data poverty?; What is the overall effect of reduced market and services access due to data poverty on overall employment and personal finances?; Are there specific policy levers which can be introduced immediately to enhance access by addressing existing gaps?; and are there long-term reforms, in addition to those recommended in the State of the Nation Report 2022, which should be introduced to reduce barriers to access?

The event was Chaired by APPG Co-chair Matt Warman MP. Speakers included Helen Milner OBE, CEO of Good Things Foundation; Charlie Ball, Head of Labour Market Intelligence at Jisc; Chris Ashworth OBE, Head of Social Impact at Nominet; Elisabeth Rochford, Head of Social Equity, Value & Impact at Virgin Media O2; Vanessa Higham, Government Affairs Manager at Vodafone; and Leigh Smyth, Founder of ImpactMatch.

Please see below for minutes of the session:

Matt Warman MP welcomed attendees and highlighted the importance of access to financial services and markets, and how it makes a difference to daily life. He then introduced Helen Milner OBE, CEO of the Good Things Foundation.

Helen Milner OBE began by recounting how she had given evidence to the House of Lords’ Digital and Communications Committee’s report on Digital Exclusion. She praised the report and noted it gives political parties a blueprint for their manifestoes. She emphasised the report’s point that the Government has not updated its digital strategy since 2014, which is reflective of a lack of effort on digital inclusion. She commended the House of Lords report’s recommendation that the strategy be refreshed and include the establishment of a cross-government digital exclusion unit that reports to the Prime Minister.

In terms of financial exclusion, she told attendees that the Good Things Foundation have done a lot of work on the intersectionality of financial exclusion and digital exclusion. In particular, she said poverty is exacerbated by not having access to services such as online banking and financial advice. In terms of employment, she shared that 20% of people who have gone through Good Things Foundation digital training programmes have gone on to get a job, even though these weren’t employment programmes. She concluded by re-emphasising the need for Government to break out of siloes when addressing data poverty and pointed to the work of Good Things Foundations’ data and devices banks as ready-made solutions to the issue.

Matt Warman MP thanked Helen Milner OBE and said that when he was a Minister, being online was estimated to save the average person in the UK £250 per year. He then introduced Charlie Ball, Head of Labour Market Intelligence at Jisc.

Charlie Ball introduced Jisc as a digital agency for the Higher Education sector, that runs services including JANET, govroam and eduroam. He also highlighted their remit for supporting employability for university graduates. From this, he revealed that digital and data poverty is not always determined by affluence, but that both are a determinant for future affluence. To support this, he shared that 40% of graduates live in house shares with poor connectivity, and that 70% of the financial services workforce work from home, as well as 70% of the IT services workforces – both sectors where connectivity is crucial. Overall, he said 75% of the workforce requires digital skills to get into work. He emphasised the wider need for people, especially those over the age of 18, to get online to access the job market, with job assessments increasingly taking place digitally. Charlie also said that in regions like the North of England, there are many places not very digitally connected, which poses an issue for economic growth because businesses and workers alike will choose to locate themselves in places that have superior digital infrastructure. He called for action to improve data access in these areas. In terms of Jisc’s own work in the area, he pointed to their out-of-box version of eduroam, which will be ready from 1st August and aims to greatly extend the ability of people in education to access free Wi-Fi coverage.

Matt Warman MP thanked Charlie Ball and introduced Chris Ashworth OBE, Head of Social Impact at Nominet.

Chris Ashworth OBE began by acknowledging the House of House of Lords’ Digital and Communications Committee’s report on Digital Exclusion, referring to it as totemic and expressing a hope that it will be a lightning rod for new activity to address digital and data poverty. He related how his son wasn’t even in nursery in 2014 when the Government’s last Digital Inclusion Strategy was released – meaning the issue has been ignored for most of his life.

He next discussed Nominet’s role in designing national infrastructure and their focus on connectivity for young people. He told attendees that Nominet have recently announced their biggest ever partnership, with the Institute for Coding, and said their passion for such programmes is driven by their Digital Youth Index which has a lot to do with data poverty.

He spoke of the challenge for young people transitioning into work with many applications and assessments moving online, stressing the significance of digital skills, devices, and broadband in facilitating employment opportunities, and the disadvantages this poses to those such as the one in four young people who only access the internet via public places. He mentioned an example of a young person getting a job but being unable to pass their online module on health and safety because it was online. This person in turn felt social embarrassment as he needed to ask his workplace to lend a laptop and sit in his workplace to do the assessment. He noted that it is small stories and incidents like this that - like microaggressions in bullying – mount up and collectively hold people back. He set out how data poverty is a problem at a national level, but that the statistic of 25% of young people who don’t have home access rises to 48% with care leavers – meaning they’re further disadvantaged from entering the workforce. He concluded with the point that tackling data poverty will also have a positive impact on the digital economy as a whole.

Matt Warman MP thanked Chris Ashworth OBE. He said that now attendees have heard from the not-for-profit sector, it was up to the telcos to say what they are doing to help. He introduced Elisabeth Rochford, Head of Social Equity, Value & Impact at Virgin Media O2.

Elisabeth Rochford began by stating it is clear that data poverty is a barrier to access, and that this is another reason to address the issue in a holistic and joined up way. She outlined Virgin Media O2’s efforts working with Virgin Money as part of their poverty taskforce to identify new ways of collaborating on digital and financial inclusion. She also highlighted Virgin Media O2’s work with Good Things Foundation’s databank, where they’ve donated enough connectivity to connect half a million people in the UK. She said their databank pilot has been expanded to 33 Virgin Money stores in a bid to tackle data poverty on the high streets. She called for a collaborative, holistic and centralised approach to tackling data poverty, with support from government now crucial to support the collaboration between the private and third sectors to address financial inclusion and digital equity. She noted the House of Lords’ Digital Exclusion report has also called for government to play a more active role, including through breaking siloes around data poverty.

Matt Warman MP thanked Elisabeth Rochford and introduced Vanessa Higham, Government Affairs Manager at Vodafone.

Vanessa Higham said that Vodafone is working on getting people back into the labour market and is actively working with partners and businesses on digital access. She highlighted Vodafone’s range of targeted support through connectivity, skills, training and devices, and said the company have extended their commitment to help four million people cross the digital divide by 2025. She traced Vodafone’s social tariff commitment back to the pandemic where they introduced their VOXI social tariff, and announced they now have a fixed social tariff to complement this, as well as their efforts working closely with partners such as the Good Things Foundation but also businesses across the sector. She shared a study Vodafone did during the pandemic, which found 36% of people have benefitted from digital skills training, a number which doubled when looking just at those who are seeking employment. This research has led to further work with charity We Are Digital to create a free helpline for online skills training. Vanessa agreed with comments from attendees welcoming the House of Lords on Digital Exclusion, and pointed to calls for a new digital inclusion strategy and a joined up departmental approach as particularly crucial to tackling data poverty. She expressed a desire to work with government departments outside of DSIT and DWP to see how Vodafone, their partners, and government can work together to offer wider support to those in need.

Matt Warman MP thanked Vanessa Higham. He noted the speakers up until this point had anatomised the problem a lot, and said it was now for the rest of us to provide solutions. He introduced Leigh Smyth, Founder of ImpactMatch.

Leigh Smyth introduced herself as an independent digital exclusion strategist with a history of working with Lloyds Bank, the Good Things Foundation and other organisations in this space. She said she’s been working in this space for ten years and finds it unacceptable that we’re in a position where the UK’s Digital Inclusion Strategy hasn’t been updated since 2014. She claimed there is a need for a radical, universal approach to tackling data poverty and digital inclusion. She emphasised that digital inclusion is a majority issue and needs a mainstream approach to tackle it rather than a minority one, as there already exist many one-to-one approaches, but no mainstream approaches. Such an approach needs to be integrated, consistent, and well tested, but also funded. She told attendees she finds it ironic that the digital sector hasn’t looked in depth at using digital transformation to make online access easier, and this is something she’s working towards in her own index. She referred to the Lloyds Bank Digital Consumer Index, which says that, of two people in the same job, one with digital skills will on average make £450 more a year than someone with no digital skills. She continued by quoting a Virgin Money statistic that shows people who are online can save £600 a year through savings and online tools compared to someone who is offline.

Next, Ms Smyth pointed to the Digital Poverty Alliance’s National Delivery Plan as holding the beginnings of a radical approach to tackling digital poverty. In the first instance, due to its integrated programme approach, which she compared to the Stop Smoking campaign which had consistent messaging across multiple channels and was based on a coordinated approach from government and industry. She also noted that the Stop Smoking campaign was also well funded. She said there is currently so much great work to tackle data poverty taking place in siloes but that all see it as someone else’s problem to fix the whole. She noted there are big tech companies such as Netflix that benefit from internet connectivity but do not make up part of the effort to solve data poverty. Her second point regarding the Digital Poverty Alliance’s National Delivery Plan focussed on it having one journey with multiple front doors, which allows them to go out to people in need and help funnel them towards digital support. She said this approach needs funding from government and industry, but especially those departments which have benefitted from billions in digital transformation.

Matt Warman MP thanked all speakers and asked if anyone had anything to add to the discussion. He said if the House of Lords report had landed on his desk, he’d ask what the best ideas from around the world are for countering data poverty.

Helen Milner OBE replied that there is a need for the UK to cherry pick initiatives that we think will be most transferrable for our own national context. She said the US is one good example as there’s currently massive investment, including billions of federal funding for each state’s digital equity plan. Alongside this funding, she noted the US is spending billions of dollars on broadband subsidies, the best of which blend devices and state provision. She countered this by mentioning there are also some concerns about what happens when this money stops, which is why long-term state equity plans are needed. She also said that the UK is seen as a leader in some areas, and referred to the House of Lords report which highlights UK’s reputation as a global leader through Good Things Foundation’s digital inclusion hubs, which are expanding coverage across the UK. Helen further mentioned that Estonia is also relevant because digital inclusion is linked with their policy of everyone having a digital identity, meaning they are unable to leave anybody behind, and have to adopt a majority approach.

Leigh Smyth expanded on Helen Milner’s point by saying Washington’s Digital Policy Unit espoused the virtue of using consistent language across industry and government. She offered to share this work with Matt Warman MP.

Charlie Ball agreed the US are good at ensuring everyone is speaking the same language on digital policy, and that by contrast the UK does not have a consistent definition of what digital skills are, or even what skills are. He addressed the need for a unified understanding of skills and mentioned he is part of an ONS steering group trying to work out what a ‘skill’ is.

Chris Ashworth OBE said there is an irony in the UK that we have a social infrastructure which other countries look to for guidance, however because there is no coordinated central body at the top of this, it means the groundwork is wasted. He expressed a belief that as soon as the government do lean into this sector and provide funding and coordination, there are a lot of great organisations ready to go.

Julie Elliott MP said this all comes down to political will, and that the UK has all the bits and pieces needed to effectively tackle data poverty but no coordinating body. She said there is a lot of work that needs to be done, and because of the speed at which the tech sector evolves, someone with clout needs to drive policy. She argued the 2014 Digital Inclusion Strategy was good but unsuccessful because it did not have sustained support from government to back it up. She ended by noting that the Prime Minister is spending a lot of time talking about the economy, and that if data poverty can be fixed then that will solve a lot of problems that the economy has.

Leigh Smyth replied to Julie Elliott MP, saying she wouldn’t just have one strategy, but embed digital inclusion into every strategy across government departments and the private sector. As a result, she recommended the effort be led by the Cabinet Office.

Lord Clement-Jones excused himself from the event on the basis of having to vote and put forward amendments to the Online Safety Bill. Ahead of leaving, he said that as far as the House of Lords Digital Exclusion Report goes, he believes it is good but needs to go much further in identifying solutions. He mentioned he would be discussing this with Helen Milner the next day at a Local Government Association meeting. In his absence, he asked attendees to consider the following questions: If the Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy is replaced, how widely could its successor go? How realistic is it to tackle all the root causes of data poverty? And how can governments from the national to the local level support the third sector in tackling data poverty? Within these questions, he stressed that any potential updated strategy must not just be about data poverty but also about media literacy and the stimulation of the local economy. He added that the third sector is often more efficient in delivering strategies on a local level than the Government.

Matt Warman MP then asked if anyone else had any other further questions.

Charlotte Witsø, Senior Policy Researcher at Citizen’s Advice Bureau said it was interesting to consider how broad a digital inclusion strategy should be. She related how Citizen’s Advice Bureau often have clients coming in with huge expensive contracts for broadband and struggling to reduce the amount they pay, but who are scared to deal with telcos in case they break their contract. As a result, she called for social tariffs to be accompanied by contracts with no mid-contract price rises and exit fees. She shared research from Citizen’s Advice that found one million people in the last year cut off their broadband, who need reconnecting. She said we need to hear how the Government can help get these people back online. 

Dave Donaghy, Trustee at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, agreed with Julie Elliott MP’s point on political will. He said digital industries already have skills frameworks and can use these to support a unified definition of skills, digital skills, and employment skills. He said this would provide a unified message for people who are entering the world of work by making it clear which skills they need.

Matt Warman MP said that on the political will point, everyone used to turn to DCMS and DWP for leadership. He said that in reality, the Government’s Digital Service was embedded because a team came in and ensured digital policy was included in all strategies.

Helen Milner OBE pointed to the Lords report’s recommendation for a digital inclusion unit which should fulfil this function. She expressed a belief that currently, whenever Departments talk between themselves on digital inclusion, they only use it as an opportunity to talk about what they’ve done well.

Matt Warman MP replied that lots of departments have done good work, but this has resulted in less than the sum of its parts because there’s no cross-cutting approach. He re-emphasised that departments are doing well in their own lanes but need to break out of these lanes.

Leigh Smyth said that in the UK, we have the tools to do well in tackling data poverty when we do get this leadership. She mentioned that there are a couple of relevant case studies in different behavioural programs that could be useful to use, share, or send directly to the Prime Minister.

Chris Ashworth OBE added that there will be value in examining the successes of the UK’s devolved nations too.

Abigail Davis, Co-Director for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University Centre told attendees of her work with partners including the Good Things Foundation researching a Minimum Digital Living Standard. She noted there is a skills framework in this research and called for policymakers to look at the generational effect of digital and data poverty, as people who already don’t possess any digital skills are more likely to bring up children who also would struggle with these skills. She called for attendees to look at data poverty in a framework of traditional poverty, arguing that if you can’t afford food and heating, then you can’t afford broadband. To this end, she suggested data should be classed as a utility.

Matt Warman MP replied that the argument used to be that you can live without broadband, so it couldn’t be a utility. He said increasingly this is not the case, so broadband should be classed as utility, though perhaps not an essential one. He expressed concern that the debate on data poverty often gets side-tracked by discussions on utilities, as we still expect people to pay for electricity and water too.

Mark Blake, Director of Central Services at the Papworth Trust, re-emphasised Abigail Davis’ point on utilities, saying that across health programmes the Trust has been involved in, participants have struggled to get involved due to a lack of access to broadband or equipment. He called it a basic requirement to have data to be able to apply for a job, so provision of data should be a core part of the Government’s target to return people to long-term employment. He called for digital inclusion to be a core principle for all government departments’ strategies.

Matt Warman MP agreed and asked if anyone else had any other inputs.

Belinda Tyrell, Research Associate at the University of Liverpool said it is important to have a Minimum Digital Living Standard. She pointed to a project with housing associations in Huyton last year where they found people were applying for jobs through games consoles, and others didn’t have access to crucial dialysis information. She explained that focus groups during the pandemic found many children whose only device was their phone, and that lots of children still go to school without knowing how to use a computer. She elaborated further on the Huyton project which helps people into work by front loading their phones with credit to help them make connections with employers.

Ben Mansell, Founder of Unconnected, asked what the utopian vision was for attendees regarding data poverty. He noted that attendees had shared many good ideas and initiatives, but no shared vision, and that this is now required to make the most of this work.

Matt Warman MP replied that it is interesting how, while the House of Lords Digital Exclusion report has a lot of good content, its chief recommendation is that the government writes a new digital strategy but it doesn’t say what should be in it. He shared his own belief that basic access should be at the core of such a strategy, He invited the roundtable’s original speakers to provide a closing statement.

Leigh Smyth began by saying the ask for government is currently difficult as there is no universal investment case to take to them. She said the Digital Poverty Alliance have done some work on this but there are gaps that need filling. She reiterated the need to focus on the end user in developing policy, by giving them multi-channel support and frameworks to direct them to the support they need at different times. She said this will only be achievable through an integrated programme approach. She called for support from the government and also big corporations.

Vanessa Higham emphasised how Vodafone recognise their own responsibility in addressing data poverty. She acknowledged that approaches to this must respect how individuals have different needs and a joined up response is required to provide solutions to all of these needs, including through government playing their part. 

Elisabeth Rochford agreed with Abigail Davis’ point on the relationship between traditional and data poverty. She added that poverty and data poverty are complex issues that also draw on issues of social equity, meaning no single aspect of either will be solved in silo, and no single player can call the topic their own responsibility. She related how Virgin’s poverty premium taskforce are considering this as they think about how to tackle different aspects of poverty.

Chris Ashworth OBE said the overall aim is to eradicate data poverty. He said the issue of data poverty is a contemporary, categorical issue, a social issue that didn’t exist as a term in 2018. He continued that what is good about data poverty compared with traditional poverty is that it speaks to the specific, definable issue of people who don’t have enough data to get on in life. He said that if stakeholders remain focussed on this then collectively they can eradicate data poverty and ensure people are able to save hundreds of pounds a year through being online. He agreed that there is a need to coordinate different initiatives, people, and tools aimed at tackling data poverty.

Ben Mansell called this a good headline but there are a lot nuances to consider underneath it.

Chris Ashworth agreed but said the definition is here now and can’t be moved.

Charlie Ball agreed with Chris Ashworth that the issue is large but also solvable. He reiterated how to access services and opportunities in 2023, you need to be online. He said Jisc deal with a lot of people who aren’t in poverty but are in data poverty and said there is a need to realise they overlap but aren’t the same thing, otherwise graduates risk slipping through the cracks when looking for jobs. He continued that from a Jisc point of view, he doesn’t want graduates struggling to find jobs and as a third sector agency they are ready to work with anyone willing to engage with the issue.

Helen Milner OBE said she doesn’t agree with insinuations that data poverty is a small issue, just that it’s smaller than some other issues. She said if it is possible to eradicate data poverty, then it must be done. She noted some businesses are more on top of this than the Government and are working on it across sectors when politicians aren’t. She called for politicians to take data poverty seriously and see there are a lot of willing allies in third sector and business. She expressed how she wants to move away from the dialogue saying this is solely a personal choice issue, noting how people living complex and disadvantaged lives don’t always have the capacity to go out and navigate a complex data access landscape. She lauded the thousands in the community who are already helping people on the brink of poverty and data poverty and urged everyone to take responsibility to create the utopia mentioned earlier in the session for everybody to have access to the digital world.

Matt Warman MP ended the roundtable by emphasising the issue of data poverty, calling it a life-limiting issue for individuals, and an economically challenging issue for the UK. He noted that the Government should come together to help this but haven’t yet because it’s hard. He elaborated that the reason the issue remains hard is because government and businesses haven’t come together to simplify it. He shared his belief that there are ways to do this and called for them to come together to understand that it’s citizens and the nation that win when we get this right. He thanked attendees for coming and for their contributions to the roundtable.