Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has set a target for (a) total provision and (b) provision in rural areas of broadband social tariffs.

Social tariffs are currently available in 99% of the UK which includes both urban and rural areas.

Social tariffs are commercial products which are offered voluntarily by telecoms providers to support those on low incomes. Social tariffs are currently offered by 28 different providers across the UK and are available to an estimated 5 million households on Universal Credit as well as other means-tested benefits. In December 2023, Ofcom’s Pricing Trends report showed that 380,000 UK households now take up a social tariff, an almost 160% increase from September 2022.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has not set a target for the provision of social tariffs. The Government and Ofcom continue to press operators to do more to raise awareness of social tariffs so that eligible households make use of them. Ofcom’s report also showed that just 45% of eligible households were aware of low-cost broadband offers. In July 2023, Ofcom’s Chief Executive wrote to the sector to set out the regulator’s expectation that they should do more to promote awareness, such as by highlighting tariffs on bills and end-of-contract notifications.