Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the Government is taking to ensure wider public awareness of broadband social tariffs.

Ofcom’s latest Affordability Report (April 2023) showed 47% of eligible households were aware of social tariffs, up from 16% in January 2022. While we recognise the progress, more is needed to ensure households know about the support available.

In November, the Government - as part of Help for Households - launched a UK-wide multichannel campaign to publicise social tariffs among eligible households. The campaign partnered with a range of stakeholders - including other government departments, job centres, libraries, local authorities, consumer groups and internet service providers - to maximise the reach of our messaging.

The Government has also provided information directly to libraries, the regional school networks across the UK and via jobcentre work coaches to enable them to provide information directly to those on Universal Credit. In March, the Minister for Digital Infrastructure wrote to all members of the House of Commons to ask them to raise awareness in their constituencies.

We continue to work closely with providers and have called on the industry to do more to promote social tariffs to their eligible customers.