The House of Lords Communications Committee has criticised the UK Government’s response to its report on digital exclusion, underscoring the lack of understanding and action on the pertinent issue in government.

The report, published in June, detailed the failings of the government in addressing the extent of digital exclusion throughout the country, lamenting on how drastically this issue can affect future outcomes for the economy and exacerbate existing socio-economic inequalities.

In response, the Government outlined recommendations based on the report, which the Committee disparaged as lacking ambition and failing to engage with the concerns raised by the report.

The Committee emphasised that the divides between digital ‘haves and have-nots’ will deepen unless the UK government takes the issue more seriously.

In a letter to Minister Paul Scully, Baroness Stowell, chair of the Communications and Digital Committee, rejected the Government’s assertion that digital exclusion is a priority, citing that the Government digital strategy is over a decade old and includes links to now defunct websites and long discontinued programmes.

She pointed out that other government strategies are updated regularly, and that the failure to do the same for digital exclusion “suggests a reluctance to dedicate political attention and departmental resource to this matter.”

“As the world rapidly moves online and ground-breaking advances in AI occupy political attention, we must ensure that the UK has firm digital foundations across all sectors of society. The Government still has time to demonstrate its commitment to this issue by developing a new digital inclusion strategy,” the letter read.

The Committee also expressed further disappointment at the lack of action on recommendations it put forward to help tackle digital exclusion, including removing VAT from broadband social tariffs, giving Ofcom powers to ensure social tariffs are appropriately promoted, embedding digital skills targets across education life stages and expanding internet voucher schemes to more people in need.

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“Digital exclusion is not a problem that will solve itself. It is an ongoing challenge and we need clear direction from the Government about how they will prioritise making sure people are not excluded or left behind when it comes to enjoying the benefits of being online,” Baroness Stowell commented.

“Our report set out a series of key areas where the government could take the lead in tackling the digital divide, including in developing digital skills and confidence among those with the lowest level of digital capability.

“In their response the Government have reasserted that digital exclusion is a priority, but their actions do not live up to the words. It is simply not credible to claim it is a priority when the key strategy for helping people keep pace in such a fast-moving area is over a decade old. It is disappointing that the Government’s response has not taken up the Committee’s positive challenge and signalled the ambition needed to close the digital divide for the UK to thrive as a tech superpower.”