WIREDGOV

New research from the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) lays bare a disjointed system of digital support across the UK – where opportunity hinges on geography, and too many communities are being failed by silence, scarcity, or both.

Surveying more than 470 libraries, councils, schools, charities and community centres across regions including Dundee, Aberystwyth, Enniskillen, Portsmouth, Kidderminster, Easington, Wrexham and Plymouth, the study found that just 50 could readily provide information on digital inclusion services.

That gap is more than statistical. It is structural.

In towns like Easington and Plymouth, the absence of publicly visible support – whether for affordable connectivity, essential devices or digital skills – speaks to a deeper neglect. The infrastructure for inclusion simply is not there. Or worse, it is there, but invisible to the people who need it most.

“For too long, digital access has been treated as optional. It is not,” said Elizabeth Anderson, CEO of the DPA. “It is now one of the most basic determinants of opportunity in modern Britain. And yet, what this research shows is a landscape of confusion, fragmentation, and chronic underinvestment. We urgently need national leadership that empowers local delivery – clear strategies, fair funding, and a shared standard for what digital support should look like across the UK.”

The research calls for a new, coordinated approach – one that bridges national policy with frontline delivery. It recommends that:

• Schools assess the extent of digital poverty among students and implement 1:1 device access through budget allocations or donation programmes.
• Frontline services, including libraries, are equipped and trained to signpost support options effectively.
• Local authorities work alongside charities to design accessible, visible support pathways tailored to community needs.

While the solutions to digital exclusion are well established, this research makes clear that action on the ground remains fragmented and inconsistent. Local organisations are too often left without the guidance, visibility or resources they need to deliver meaningful support. Addressing this disconnect requires more than isolated initiatives – it demands a coordinated effort to embed digital inclusion into the fabric of public life.

That means aligning national ambition with local delivery, ensuring frontline services can reliably guide people to support, and creating systems that are proactive, not reactive. If we are serious about closing the digital divide, we must build a future where digital access is not an aspiration but a standard – available to everyone, everywhere, as a matter of course.

Read the full research report here.