Pick up the pace to finish the journey: one year on from Government's Action Plan

One year ago, the UK Government published its Digital Inclusion Action Plan: First Steps - a long-awaited strategy to tackle digital exclusion. At Good Things, we welcomed the Action Plan with real optimism. Twelve months on and that optimism remains. Yet if these were just the first steps, now it's time to pick up the pace. 

Since Good Things began 15 years ago, we’ve seen a profound shift in public and political understanding. The pandemic was a watershed moment: when children couldn’t access education without a device, digital access stopped being a ‘nice to have’ and became a societal priority. Since then, the rapid digitalisation of essential services - from the NHS to banking to welfare to TV - has created another wake-up call. You’re not missing out if you’re offline today, you’re locked out.

Against that backdrop, the Digital Inclusion Action Plan did rise to the challenge. It addressed four key drivers of exclusion (data and devices, skills, essential services, and confidence and local delivery). It created an external Digital Inclusion Action Committee to hold the government to account. It brought in industry pledges and civil society partnerships. It highlighted the best practice taking place across the UK, led by regional players, charities and forward thinking businesses. Crucially the policy process itself was participatory - the Dept. Science, Innovation and Technology launched it and consequently asked the public to feedback and shape it further.

But the UK Government is often accused of producing strategies without delivery. So how would we score progress so far? A fair assessment might be 6 out of 10.

There has been tangible movement. A dedicated Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund was established and grants have been awarded to a range of organisations - from Women for Refugee Women, to the Bromley-by-Bow Centre, Libraries Connected, and our own project with UK Local Authorities. And a dedicated fund ringfenced for the issue really matters.

However the detail matters too. Payments ‘in arrears’ disadvantage the very grassroots organisations that the fund aimed to support, and the short-term funding cycle limited long-term impact. If we want sustainable change, designing systems that smaller organisations can realistically access and build on is indisputably important.

The pilot device donation scheme and IT Reuse for Good Charter are positive commitments, particularly where public and private sector partners lean in. Telecom companies have gone further still, supporting initiatives like our National Databank. For a long time, industry has shown leadership - but there’s so much more intervention needed, particularly on affordability. Nearly 2 million UK households had to cancel their mobile phone contract just last year.

On digital skills, there has been progress - especially recently with the Department for Education consulting on reform. On measurement, we’re moving forward too. At Good Things, we’ve developed our Indicators of Digital Inclusion - three simple questions that help services and organisations identify and respond to digital exclusion. ‘Cause if we don’t measure it, we can’t fix it.

Politically, there has been continuity of commitment despite ministerial changes. We’re encouraged to see senior figures like Secretary of State Liz Kendall, Minister Liz Lloyd and Baroness Hilary Armstrong engaging with this agenda. But cross-government ownership must go deeper. Digital inclusion cannot sit in one department; it must be baked into policy design across all of them.

So what next?

Government should be ruthless in its focus. Don’t boil the ocean. Prioritise the changes that would most transform lives: like making connectivity affordable; and ensuring there is always a trusted place people can go for support.

Our three asks are clear: invest in digital inclusion as a driver of economic growth; embed it across cross-government policymaking, not bolt it on; and design digital public services that work for everyone.

Technology will keep evolving and the goalposts will always move. That’s why we listen carefully to the community organisations and people with lived experience at the sharp end of exclusion. And it’s why we stay grounded in evidence.

The first steps have been taken. Now we need sustained leadership, investment and accountability to finish the journey.

About us

For those who don’t know us, Good Things Foundation was founded nearly 15 years ago by Helen Milner. Since then, we’ve grown into the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity, alongside a global social change charity, with our sister-organisation Good Things Australia and a UK Network of over 8,000 community-based digital inclusion hubs. Every day, we work alongside our community partners local organisations to provide free mobile connectivity data, free devices, and free digital and AI skills support.