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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the proportion of people aged (a) 18 to 29, (b) 30 to 44, (c) 45 to 59, (d) 60 to 79 and (e) over 80-years old who have internet access in each parliamentary constituency.

Whether a person has “internet access” can be measured in different ways, for example whether their household has a fixed broadband connection, or whether they own a smartphone. However, I am not aware of any estimates of the proportion of people who have internet access by age group in each parliamentary constituency.

Ofcom’s “Adults' media use and attitudes” reports also set out estimates of different types of “internet access”, including by age, and geographical location, but not at constituency level.

Fixed broadband infrastructure is almost universally available across the UK, and we are bringing in a Universal Service Obligation to ensure everyone in the UK has the right to request an affordable connection to broadband of a minimum specified speed, from a designated provider, no matter where they live or work, up to a reasonable cost threshold.