We all know that being online offers huge advantages; It’s essential to everyday life, but the cost of living means not everyone can afford the internet access they need.  

Citizens Advice found that in the year to May 2023 around a million people cancelled internet contracts because of the cost.  The most vulnerable residents are impacted by not being able to afford internet access – it means children can’t do homework and their parents can’t access job opportunities, or save money by shopping online.

Cheaper internet packages are available, for example many Communications Providers offer social tariffs.  Social tariffs are cheaper broadband and phone packages for people in receipt of Universal Credit, Pension Credit and some other benefits. There is also support for those that can’t afford these lower cost options, such as through Get Online London, the excellent digital inclusion service established by LOTI, the GLA with the Good Things Foundation. 

Ofcom research shows that people’s awareness of social tariffs is very low and that this is really impacting uptake. Most people just don’t know about affordable internet options. Residents who need internet access the most may be needlessly missing out and being further disadvantaged. 

Council staff working with residents who are struggling financially might have opportunities to share information which could help get people connected. However, staff told us they don’t always understand these options enough to explain them to the residents they work with

Boroughs in West London wanted to tackle this problem and provide their frontline staff with information to help them better support residents that need to get online. Through the West London Alliance (WLA), their sub-regional partnership, the seven West London boroughs (Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow) have a well-established digital programme which is driving improvements in digital connectivity to enable economic growth and overcome digital exclusion. The WLA convened the boroughs to work with experts in this field, Digital Unite, to develop an e-learning package to explain affordable internet options for staff so they can support residents. 

The 15-minute course has been co-designed with borough colleagues with frontline staff and residents in mind. The result is a free, fast, high-quality e-learning package. Staff also benefit from CPD (Continuing Professional Development) accreditation once they’ve completed it. We’re really pleased with the result; 99% of colleagues who completed the e-learning module during the soft launch period said they’d recommend it to a colleague.

Harriet Hungerford led the work for Digital Unite and explains, “we used a story-led approach to make the technical information easy to follow and also to demonstrate how critical Internet access is to the people we want to support. We also strongly signposted LOTI’s own Social Tariffs Toolkit and guide to Internet speeds as invaluable resources on this topic.”

The WLA is delighted to be able to share the e-learning module as a free resource with all local authorities and other organisations supporting people who might be struggling to get online – because everyone needs access to affordable internet, feel free to share this with your networks.