Recommendation 3

HM Government Deferred

Last year, the Government launched the UK Digital Strategy, which set out a commitment to develop digital skills across the whole of the UK. Ensuring everyone has the digital skills they need to thrive in the workplace will be critical for sustained economic growth. The benefits of doing so are significant—by continuing to support and strengthen digital ecosystems the UK tech sector’s annual gross value added (GVA) has the potential to grow by an additional £41.5 billion by 2025 and create a further 678,000 jobs. The Government is committed to improving the level of digital skills among adults in the UK, so that all adults have the essential digital skills needed to participate actively in life, work, and society. To achieve this, we have started to implement major reforms to the adult digital offer, ensuring that adults have access to high quality, employer supported qualifications which are supporting people to train, retrain and upskill so they can climb the ladder of opportunity towards better jobs, better wellbeing, and better options for the future. A good computing education lies at the heart of all technological innovation; that’s why the Government overhauled the outdated ICT curriculum and replaced it with computing. The Government has also invested over £100 million into the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) to improve the quality of computing education and drive up participation in computing at GCSE and A level. Outside of school, the Government is supporting adults to develop digital skills. As part of our ambition to level up opportunities across the UK, it is imperative that people can upskill or reskill quickly without having to move. Our National Skills Fund offers do just that, with free level 3 qualifications for adults, and Skills Bootcamps in digital courses (including coding, AI, and cyber security) available across England. To build digital capacity at the local level, the government continues to support the Local Digital Skills Partnerships (LDSPs) established in eight regions across England. These Post-pandemic economic growth: UK labour markets: Government Response 5 skills capabilities across the country. The regions operating an LDSP are Lancashire, Heart of South West, West Midlands, South East, Cheshire & Warrington, Cornwall & Isles of Scilly, West Yorkshire and Hull and East Yorkshire. The Government understands the digital skills gap and shortage cannot be tackled by Government action alone. As part of the UK Digital Strategy, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) launched the Digital Skills Council, bringing together government and industry to drive industry-led action focused on strengthening the UK’s digital workforce. The Council brings together industry leaders and training experts from Starling, Google, Future Dot Now, Microsoft and others, to address industry’s current demand for digital skills and in the future. The Council is co-chaired by the Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy, Paul Scully MP and Phil Smith CBE FREng, chairman of British semiconductor firm IQE Plc. The Government recognises that some may experience barriers to the adoption and use of digital technologies, and that many households are struggling to pay their bills as a result of the rise in the cost of living. To support those on low incomes to stay connected, the Government has worked with the telecoms industry to bring low-cost, high-quality social tariffs into the market. These fixed and mobile offers are available in 99% of the UK, from a range of providers including BT, Three, Sky, Vodafone, and Virgin Media O2 as well as other suppliers.2 Social tariffs are available to those claiming Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits and start at £10 per month. Around 2,900 public libraries in England provide a trusted network of accessible locations with skilled staff, volunteers, free DCMS-funded Wi-Fi, public PCs, and assisted digital access to a wide range of digital services. Many work directly with organisations such as Good Things Foundation to provide structured learning on digital skills, which help boost digital inclusion and also employability chances, as well as less formal drop-in assistance and advice. Public libraries also not only provide digital support or access to kit or data in situ; increasingly libraries are lending portable devices, often targeted to those more likely to be digitally disadvantaged. They also help to signpost people in need of further digital support to providers or deals that can help them (for example, the social tariffs mentioned above, or to assistance from organisations like the Digital Poverty Alliance for disadvantaged families in need of devices).