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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on people’s access to broadband; and what steps the Government is taking to (a) ensure the affordability of broadband and (b) reduce the digital divide.

In response to Covid-19, the Government and Ofcom agreed a set of commitments with the UK’s major broadband and mobile providers to support vulnerable consumers during the pandemic. Providers committed to working with customers who are finding it difficult to pay their bill as a result of Covid-19 to ensure that they were treated fairly and appropriately supported. They also committed to removing fixed broadband data caps, in addition to providing new and generous landline and mobile offers, such as free or low cost mobile data boosts.

There are already social tariffs available which offer low cost landline and broadband services for those on certain means-tested benefits. However, in line with Ofcom’s recommendation in their Affordability Report published in December 2020, the Government is encouraging those providers who do not currently offer social tariff packages to do so.

In addition, Government and Ofcom have taken action to help support switching to more affordable services.

The Government has promoted the DevicesDotNow campaign, which worked with community organisations to distribute devices to vulnerable adults and help them get online. The aim was to enable elderly and vulnerable people, particularly those to who are shielding, to communicate with the outside world and get access to vital services.