Across the Divide Tackling Digital Exclusion in Glasgow Douglas White The Carnegie UK Trust is an independent, endowed charitable trust incorporated by Royal Charter. We seek to improve the lives and wellbeing of people throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland by influencing public policy and demonstrating innovative practice. This project was made possible thanks to the and Jeremy Mitchell formerly at the work, help and support of many different people: Communications Consumer Panel; Trisha • Mark Diffley and Vanessa Chan of Ipsos McAuley and Annie McGovern at Consumer MORI carried out both the primary and Focus Scotland; Sarah Beattie-Smith at secondary research on which this report Citizens Advice Scotland; Laura Alexander at is based. They offered great imagination the Ofcom Advisory Committee for Scotland; and diligence to help us devise the right Laura Muir at Robert Gordon University; approach for the research, and applied their Vicki Hanson at University of Dundee; John considerable expertise and commitment to Crawford, Trustee at CILIP; Stuart Gibson at make this a successful study. Farrpoint; and Gillian Anderson at University of Strathclyde. • A number of people offered expert insight and improvement at various stages of the • Martyn Evans and Jennifer Wallace provided project, including the research design and valuable internal review and support. final report. These include Vicki Nash and • 200 citizens in Glasgow generously gave Claire Mack at Ofcom Scotland; Evelyn up their time to share with us their personal McDowall at Glasgow Housing Association; experiences and views on the internet, David Coyne and Lynsey Telford at Glasgow including why they go online and why City Council; Andrew Unsworth at Scottish they do not. Cities Alliance; Alyson Mitchell at Scottish We are greatly appreciate the input and Government; Professor Michael Fourman at contribution of all those listed here and we Royal Society of Edinburgh; Fiona Lennox would like to extend our sincere gratitude to and Mairi McLeod at the Communications them all. Consumer Panel, and Fiona Ballantyne Please visit www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk for more on our work on digital inclusion, including infographics of the key data presented in this report. You can The text of this work is licensed under also follow us on Twitter: @CarnegieUKTrust. the Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit Designed by www.fullcycle.co http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Printed by DTP Ltd Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, This report is printed on paper that is FSC certified. Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. CONTENTS 1 Contents Chapter 1 Why broadband matters 3 Chapter 2 Broadband in Glasgow – why are we doing 5 this research? Chapter 3 Who is offline in Glasgow? 7 Demographic characteristics 7 Geographical differences 9 Potential users and rejecters 10 Chapter 4 Why are people in Glasgow offline? 12 Attitudes to technology can help to 12 predict internet take-up It’s a complex picture – but there are 14 some key barriers Age, gender and geographic area 16 impact on the barriers people experience The barriers to getting access also vary 18 depending on whether someone is interested in going online It’s nothing to do with pay TV 21 Chapter 5 Why do people go online in Glasgow? 23 Chapter 6 Commentary and Recommendations 28 WHY BRoadBand MatteRS 3 Chapter 1 – Why broadband matters Having access to the internet is an essential As faster and faster broadband services are component of 21st century life. The benefits developed the range of services, activities and that are derived from being online – and the opportunities available to those with access disadvantages that come from a lack of access is likely to increase dramatically. Particularly – are now so significant that the twin challenges important is the drive to deliver many more public of improving the UK’s digital infrastructure and services online, partly due to a desire amongst increasing digital participation have become hard-pressed public agencies to improve efficiency critical public policy issues, attracting attention and reduce costs. The delivery of Universal Credit and resources from governments at all levels. via digital channels is the most high profile and challenging of current developments in this area The advantages offered by online access are well – but this is a trend that is certain to continue in documented1, and include: the future. For those citizens who are online and • Improved educational attainment who are confident users of digital technology, the • Better job prospects and flexibility move towards increased online delivery is good • Better access to public services news – making it cheaper, easier and faster to gain access to services. However, as the benefits • Cheaper goods and products accrue to those who are online, those without • More choice and convenience access will be left further and further behind. • Access to advice, information and knowledge In rural areas, where superfast broadband • Improved communication and engagement connectivity offers an unprecedented opportunity with family and friends to eradicate some of the traditional challenges • Enhanced democratic and civil participation faced by remote communities, a lack of access is often related to the poor digital infrastructure and However, despite these benefits, nearly a quarter the fact that a reliable, high-speed broadband of UK households still do not have access to service may simply not be available. This is broadband in their home. This rises to nearly important and it is vital that government, industry a third of households in Scotland, Wales and and local communities take action to ensure Northern Ireland, and in some places – such as that broadband connectivity is available to all Glasgow – the figure is closer to 40%2. Although households throughout the UK. current trends show a year-on-year increase in broadband take-up in most areas, the gap between the benefits of being online and the disadvantages of being offline is growing even more quickly. 1 See for example: The Economic Case for Digital Inclusion, Race Online and PricewaterhouseCoopers 2009; The Connected Kingdom – How the Internet is Transforming the UK Economy, Boston Consulting Group, 2010; Manifesto for a Networked Nation, Martha Lane Fox, 2010; Scotland’s Digital Needs, Consumer Focus Scotland, 2011; This is for Everyone – The Case for Universal Digitisation, Booz&Co, 2012 2 Ofcom, Communications Market Report, 2012 4 WHY BRoadBand MatteRS However, in this report we are primarily This is deeply concerning, as it is many of these concerned with those areas where the broadband households who could arguably benefit the most infrastructure is well developed but, for whatever from the advantages that the internet can offer reason, a significant proportion of households – including improved job prospects, cheaper have either chosen not to or have not been goods and products, access to public services and able to take up a broadband service. In these enhanced educational opportunities. If these circumstances digital exclusion is perhaps citizens are excluded from online access then this best viewed as a question of social justice and is only likely to widen existing inequalities – and as regeneration. Forty-five percent of UK households such, it appears that a lack of internet access will with an annual income of less than £17,500 increasingly come to represent both a symptom do not have a broadband connection and in and a cause of poverty4. Scotland, this rises to 60%3. 4 Simply having access to the internet is of course not sufficient – if all citizens are to derive the full range of benefits that online access can offer then ongoing support, training and encouragement will be required. But simply having access at home in the first instance is an essential starting point – and it is from this starting point that that we consider the question 3 Ofcom, Communications Market Report, 2012 of broadband access in Glasgow. BRoadBand IN GLasgow – WHY ARE we doIng THIS ReseaRCH? 5 Chapter 2 – Broadband in Glasgow – why are we doing this research? In Glasgow, the broadband take-up rate is one of friends are using it; or a preference for spending the lowest in the UK, and has lagged well behind disposable income on other communications the Scottish and UK averages for many years. items, such as subscription TV packages. Although Ofcom data suggests that there was However, to quote a well-known phrase, ‘the plural some improvement in take-up between 2011 of anecdote is data’9 and until recently there and 2012, the same data estimates that 40% has been very little robust research to explain of people in the Greater Glasgow area are still which, if any, of these different factors is the most offline. This is significantly above the Scottish significant barrier for people in Glasgow; and average of 32%, and almost double the 24% which specific groups of people in Glasgow are UK average5. Data from the Scottish Household the most likely to experience particular barriers to Survey (SHS) and the British Population Survey internet access. (BPS) supports the Ofcom figures, with the SHS putting the level of non-broadband take-up in Some progress has been made in the past year Glasgow at nearly 40%6 and the BPS showing towards improving understanding on these issues. that 50% of homes in the city do not have a In 2012 the Communications Consumer Panel fixed broadband connection7. In terms of actual published qualitative research, including a small numbers, this means around 115,000 households number of interviews with non-internet users in Glasgow are offline8. in Glasgow, which suggested that two of the most important barriers for many non-internet The problem of low broadband take-up clearly users in the UK were a fear of technology and does not only affect Glasgow – it is an issue the comfort and familiarity of the offline world.