Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what estimate he has made of the proportion of households with occupants over the age of 75 that do not have access to reliable broadband.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom, the independent regulator of telecommunications, estimates that there are 48,000 premises without access to decent broadband – i.e. at least 10Mbit/s download and 1Mbit/s upload speed - in the UK. We do not have sufficient data to estimate how many of these premises have occupants over the age of 75.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure the availability of reliable broadband in rural areas to support access to essential services.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Through Project Gigabit, we are delivering future-proofed, gigabit-capable connections nationwide, to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans, including to premises in rural areas.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of digital exclusion on the quality of life for older people.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Those who cannot use digital technologies are likely to pay more for certain transactions, have worse health outcomes, and find it more difficult to manage their finance. That’s why tackling digital exclusion, which disproportionately impacts certain demographics including older people, is a priority for Government.
In February we published the Digital Inclusion Action Plan, which outlines the first five actions we are taking over the next year on digital inclusion.
One of these actions was to launch the £9.5mn Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund to support and expand local community initiatives to get people online. All funded projects will support at least one of the focus demographic groups, including older people.