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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle social isolation in older people through the digital sector.

Government is committed to helping older people acquire basic digital skills as part of its broader strategy to reduce digital exclusion, as outlined in the Digital Strategy. Through its £400,000 Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, the Government is supporting three pilot projects aimed at addressing the digital exclusion of older and disabled people. There is evidence that tackling digital exclusion helps mitigate social isolation; The Future Digital Inclusion Programme, funded by DfE and run by Good Things Foundation, shows that 61% are less lonely and 76% feel more connected following involvement in the programme.

Government’s £1million Tech to Connect challenge prize, delivered by Nesta, will fund organisations to tackle social isolation using tech innovation. This will benefit a broad range of groups including older people.