Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Government response to paragraph 62 of the Third Report of Session 2022-23 by the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee on Digital exclusion, HL 219, published on 20 October 2023, what progress the dedicated cross-Whitehall ministerial group has made.

The Government established a cross-Whitehall ministerial group in response to a recommendation from the House of Lords Communication and Digital Committee’s report on ‘Digital Exclusion’, published in June 2023. The ministerial group aims to drive progress and accountability on digital inclusion priorities across Government.

The first ministerial group meeting took place in September 2023, chaired by the then Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy, Paul Scully. Ministers attended from the Cabinet Office, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, and His Majesty's Treasury.

The group agreed to undertake a departmental mapping exercise to drive and increase coherence across departmental work. It has also discussed specific priority issues, including the viability of each department joining device donation scheme, options to increase the accessibility of parking payments and accessibility of online government services. The group will receive an update on these issues at its next meeting later this month.