Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the level of public awareness of social tariffs.

There are a range of social tariff products currently available to over 5 million households in receipt of Universal Credit support, and other means tested benefits. These offers are available to eligible households in over 99% of the country.

In July 2021, Ofcom reported take-up of social tariffs to be between approximately 1-2% of eligible households, so we are aware that more can be done to increase consumer awareness and encourage take-up of these offers.

We welcome increased promotion and consumer signposting of the social tariff products by providers such as BT, Virgin Media O2 and Hyperoptic.

DCMS is also working closely with colleagues across the government, including the Department for Work & Pensions and the Department for Education, to raise consumer awareness of social tariffs through local stakeholder channels to ensure that the individuals who may be eligible for social tariffs are made aware of the support available to them.