Agenda item

This report presents a new Digital Inclusion Strategy for the borough, which has been co-produced with residents and council directorates. Residents and voluntary and community sector partners have been actively engaged and shaped the strategy through the Digital Accessibility Group.

Nicola Ellis (Strategic Director Chief Operating Officer) introduced the report which outlined the new co-produced Digital Inclusion Strategy for the borough.Tina Akpogheneta (Chief Digital Officer) and Darren Persaud (Assistant Director Resident Experience Transformation) gave a presentation on the strategy that aimed to make Hammersmith & Fulham a more digitally inclusive borough, where residents have access to the digital skills, devices, and support they need to achieve their aspirations.

Darren Persaud discussed the importance of co-production, through the involvement of the Digital Accessibility Group – made up of residents who reflected the diversity of the borough. He noted that input had also been obtained from other Council departments and the voluntary and community sector. Darren Persaud also spoke about the feedback that had been incorporated from the Policy and Oversight Board meetings in September and December 2022, detailed in paragraph 26 of the report.

Darren Persaud said the next steps for the strategy included further feedback from the Board, further conversations with the Cabinet Member, then sign-off from the Digital Accessibility Group, and final approval at Cabinet.

Councillor Florian Chevoppe-Verdier thanked officers for their work on this important area. He noted the pandemic had accelerated digitalisation of many areas of life and hoped the pace of support and regulation would keep up. He said he could attest to the quality of work in the Digital Accessiblilty Group and that it was inspiring to see. He spoke about the importance of looking at services early to ensure they worked well for all residents from day one.

The Chair asked how outcomes would be measured. Nicola Ellis said they wanted data to validate the approach but there was still a lot more work to do on measuring outcomes.

Councillor Natalia Perez thanked officers for the update. She asked if the Council would support residents to access digital services like Universal Credit. She also asked if the Council’s plans for free Wi-Fi access included safeguards for younger users to ensure they weren’t exposed to inappropriate material. Nicola Ellis said the Council had welfare support teams to help users access benefits. As part of the cost-of-living Alliance, officers were also looking at a platform to highlight groups that provided additional support. Tina Akpogheneta added that online safety was not just for children. It was important that people felt safe online regardless of their age or level of experience. When the Council worked with third-party providers that needed to be built-in to the offer.

Councillor Daly asked, in reference to the Council’s public website and online services, if there was a trade-off between accessibility and security. Tina Akpogheneta said security was a priority for the Council and all services were held to the same high standards and all suppliers were vetted for their security controls. She noted that accessibility as it related to the public website was more a design issue than a security issue.

Councillor Nikos Souslous asked for more information on the Good Things Foundation scheme to supply residents with devices. Darren Persaud said either services like Libraries or Housing would proactively identify people in need of devices, or people could make a direct request. They would be considered, then if successful, they would collect the device from a local library and be given advice about how to use it. The scheme was administered by Council officers, but the devices were supplied by the Good Things Foundation.

Councillor Souslous expressed concerns that some people could fall through the cracks if the criteria were too strict. He also asked if the Council was donating older devices to the Good Things Foundation. Tina Akpogheneta said the Council was doing a device refresh in the next financial year and was planning to donate all reusable devices to be repurposed.

Councillor Souslous noted internet access in libraries used to be free and asked if it was possible to offer free Wi-Fi again. Darren Persaud clarified that Wi-Fi in libraries was free, and the first hour of desktop internet was free, but the second hour was paid. Officers were looking at the impact on revenue though and expected a decision in the next few weeks. The cost of printing had been raised previously, and that would be made free shortly.

Councillor Souslous noted the term ‘elderly’ had been used, but the sector preferred the term ‘older people’ instead. Officers said they would use the new term in future.

Following a question from Councillor Souslous, the Chair confirmed the Council did offer free Wi-Fi in sheltered housing.

The Chair noted that the Board had asked Community Fibre and Hyperoptic to make their social tariffs more widely known at the meeting in September 2022 and asked if progress had been made. Darren Persaud noted officers added text to the Council’s website about this issue. He said colleagues were meeting with them soon about Wi-Fi in community centres. The Chair asked officers to circulate a list of sheltered housing schemes and community halls with free Wi-Fi.

ACTION: Tina Akpogheneta / Darren Persaud

Councillor Rory Vaughan said he would like to see clear measures to track progress. He also suggested member involvement would be useful to prioritise this work.

ACTION: Tina Akpogheneta / Darren Persaud

Shad Haibatan (SOBUS) addressed the Board and noted the Council needed to be aware of people and groups who could fall through the gaps of online only services. He believed every home should have basic access to internet given how many aspects of modern life relied on the internet. He also touched on the benefits and dangers of Artificial Intelligence, the threat of online scams, and the mental health consequences for young people spending so much time online.

Councillor Chevoppe-Verdier said the strategy went together with in-person delivery of services. It was not designed to replace in-person services. In response to the other points raised, he noted some exciting work being trialled in the pest control service to respond to questions from residents. He also recognised the concerns around fraud. He said the strategy aimed to give people the skills to use their devices with confidence. He also noted that an upcoming update to the Council’s website would allow automatic translation of all content into the most common languages spoken in London.

Jazz Browne (Chief Executive of Nubian Life) asked if there was a drive to use assistive technologies for older people.Darren Persaud said the Council had an expert on technology enabled care and they were looking at provision in some care homes. They were aware that some older residents were wary of these technologies though.

Jazz Browne noted that day centres weren’t connected to the Council and suggested officers explored how to use assistive technology in day centres. The Chair said this sounded like an area for co-production – Adult Social Care could explore how they could develop the service in partnership with users. Councillor Perez suggested it could be discussed at Health PAC as item.

ACTION: David Abbott

The Chair thanked everyone for their contributions.

RESOLVED

1. That the Board reviewed and commented on the new Digital Inclusion Strategy and accompanying action plan.