Agenda item

Purpose of the item: To share the outcomes of research into digital exclusion in Surrey with Members and the proposed response to the findings of the research. The report seeks the Committee’s endorsement of the proposed way forward.

Witnesses:

Denise Turner-Stewart, Deputy Lead and Cabinet Member for Customer and

Communities

Liz Mills, Interim Executive Director of Customer, Digital and Change (CDC)

Michael Smith, Director of Design and Transformation

Louise Holloway, Digital and Customer Experience Manager

Ioni Sullivan, Programme Manager- Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)

Nikki Roberts, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Surrey Coalition of Disabled  

People

Clare Burgess, CEO of Sight for Surrey

Catherine Hodgson, CEO of Age UK Surrey- Online

Saba Khan, CEO of the Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum (SMEF)- Online

Key points raised during the discussion:

1. The Chairman asked how Surrey’s rate of digital inclusion compared to other counties of a similar size, such as Hampshire. The Chairman also asked if 5.7% of adults being offline was a high or low rate and how this compared to the regional average. The Programme Manager for EDI explained that the regional average for the South-East is 5.8%, in line with Surrey. Hampshire was 5.9%. Surrey is within the average rate for its size and location, while other counties have a higher rate such as Essex with 6.3% and Buckinghamshire at 6.6%. The Digital Exclusion Risk Index examines issues such as age, broadband access and deprivation - Surrey has a slightly lower score than others at 2.47%, whereas the national average is 3%.

2. Regarding paragraph 10 of the report, which references work done to improve accessibility of digital services and resources, one Member asked what this was and how partners would be worked with to improve it. The Digital and Customer Experience Manager explained that work undertaken in Surrey, around digital accessibility, was underpinned by public sector bodies legislation which described what should be done and recommendations the council was asked to follow. Work was done with organisations such as Sight for Surrey and the Surrey Coalition of Disabled People. The council has increased the level of website content and work is undertaken to ensure staff across the authority learn about digital accessibility. Programmes of work tested this. They added that work was done with procurement given challenges around the digital accessibility of services provided to the council by the private sector. This was expected to change with legislation that will apply to the private sector.

3. The Chairman noted and praised the council’s work on digital inclusion, but raised concerns around the Digital Inclusion Strategy, which was recently shared with the voluntary, community and faith sector (VCFS). The Chairman invited views from VCFS sector attendees. The CEO of the Surrey Coalition of Disabled People (‘Surrey Coalition’) explained that the charity provided a digital inclusion service in Surrey, (excluding North-West Surrey). Devices are provided free of charge, on loan, to people and five-to-sex digital skills training sessions are provided. The CEO of Sight for Surrey explained that the charity runs digital services to help people who are blind, partially sighted, hard of hearing, deaf, or deaf blind, to access technology through an employed specialist, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) apprentice and a group of technology volunteers that helped people at home or in the community. They added that the specialist advisors have been in contact with Surrey Coalition’s ‘Tech Angels’, and referenced the risk of digital exclusion if organisations could not afford to keep running support services. The CEO of Sight for Surrey asked if the Council would, as part the Digital Inclusion Strategy, commission organisations such as Sight for Surrey to combat geographical inequality across Surrey and provide a better standard of service, given that many voluntary organisations already have links into digitally excluded communities. The CEO of Age UK Surrey explained that the charity provided a range of digital and technology face-to-face support in central Guildford and in Milford, as well as a telephone support service. They stated that they operate a team of ten volunteers, but the number of clients seeking support was still low, with the team assisting 54 clients in 2023/24. Age UK Surrey wanted to grow this client base but was dependent on funding.

4. The Chairman noted that the charitable organisations had the contacts and expertise but did not appear to be involved in the development of the Digital Inclusion Strategy. The Interim Executive Director of CDC stated that the strategy was initially intended to draw together the council’s digital inclusion work, for the council to move quickly in completing the work for which it is responsible, though there is work to do on the next steps in partnership. There is currently no separate resource to undertake commissioning to deliver this, and the council does not have an explicit duty to do so, other than under the public sector equality duty. The council intended, through meetings with charitable organisations, to consider partnership arrangements to further ambitions in digital inclusion.

5. In reference to the Citizens Online survey, the Chairman queried whether if it would have been beneficial to ask for the VCFS sector’s opinion and what expertise they could provide before commissioning the report, stating that he felt communication was needed with organisations that could provide support and contacts of those that require it. The Interim Executive Director of CDC explained that the Citizens Online report was commissioned some time ago but agreed with the Chairman that VCFS organisations had a deep understanding of local communities, and it was important to work together. The Citizens Online report was now in the past, and a step forward was now being offered. The Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities added that the report stated that there are several partners that the council needed to work with on digital exclusion, and that activity was underway with the VCFS sector and district and borough councils.

6. The Vice-Chairman referred to paragraph 10 in the report, which stated the council would endeavour not to ‘reinvent the wheel’, though felt that this is what was the council was in danger of doing. The Digital and Customer Experience Manger explained that the Digital Inclusion Strategy focussed on what the council needed to do, part of which was partnership working. The partnership group that was originally created included several different groups, and meetings with these groups were to be organised to see how partnership working could be developed. A lot of work around accessibility was done with other councils, Sight for Surrey and Surrey Coalition.

7. A Member asked how much the council was viewing the Digital Inclusion Strategy from the perspective of users. The Digital and Customer Experience Manager explained that work was done to ensure that the website and online resources worked for people, as well as listening to the customer voice, utilising testing and reviewing analytics. They also noted that contact centre presence was ensured and was part of the Customer Operating Model.

8. A Member suggested there were things members could do to assist in identifying where potential pockets of disadvantage lay with digital exclusion. The Digital and Customer Experience Manager explained that work was done in the community, such as with libraries, and that officers could meet with the member to discuss this if desired. The Interim Executive Director of CDC referred to the importance of thinking broadly about all people that may be digitally excluded and the different ways to engage with them. Digital exclusion can be contributed to by a range of factors, such as lack of access, poverty, and English proficiency.

9. A Member noted that telephone services are not digitally inclusive for people with sight issues. The Member noted his personal experience registered as sight impaired, the support he had received from Sight for Surrey and the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and stated that how people are signposted to relevant organisations should be carefully considered.  The Member referred to work undertaken at Woodhatch Place and suggested it would have been beneficial if he had been asked to share his lived experience in this instance. The Chairman noted the importance of the member’s comments before the Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities explained that she had referred the needs of members, users and staff to Democratic Services, concerns that also permeated into work with communities. The importance of sharing lived experience was noted and the Cabinet Member thanked the Member for his contribution.

10. The Vice-Chairman, in reference to paragraph 10 of the report, asked what governance structure would be employed to ensure the ‘business-as-usual’ working of the Digital Inclusion Strategy. The Interim Executive Director of CDC explained that internal council governance would happen in two ways, while accepting there would also be coordination activity with partners. The first would be through line management arrangements that would demonstrate that the workforce remains on track. This sat within the customer services team, directly reporting to the Interim Executive Director. Secondly, the council was able to broaden out governance outside of the directorate silos through the Customer Transformation Programme. Governance arrangements could therefore be broadened along with the arrangements to the Strategic Investment Board.

11. A Member asked if the Digital Inclusion Plan objectives could be revised to be more Specific, Measurable, Actionable, and Timely (SMART). The Digital and Customer Experience Manager explained that work was moving at pace to ensure the objectives were ‘SMART’. Officers confirmed that they are aware of the three-to-six-month commitment they have given.

12. A Member asked how the council would maintain best practice in cooperating with partner organisations such as SMEF, how this would be measured, assessed and evaluated, and how any actions from this would be taken forward. The Interim Executive Director of CDC agreed the importance of this and clarified that existing relationships with organisations would be built upon.

13. The CEO of Surrey Coalition explained that the charity’s ‘Tech Angels’ provide support to ethnic minority groups, such as translators, work with refugee groups and offer one-to-one or group training. The Digital Customer and Experience Manger added that the council has some libraries assist with this work, for example one library has collaborated with a Woking mosque.

14. The Chairman asked what the long-term intention was for non-digital means of service provision, such as landline phones, considering structural changes such as the Digital Voice Switchover. The Programme Manager for EDI explained that Ofcom was investigating this and the vulnerable groups that may be affected, and added that the council would need to ensure awareness of issues raised by Ofcom, and of the circumstances in the county. The CEO of Sight of Surrey stated that various voluntary sector groups were given the opportunity to raise concerns around the switch over. One concern for the charity was the reliability of alarms in the homes of those using ‘technology-enabled homes’, and the impact on a person’s independence if the internet went down.

15. A Member raised that in his own division there had been issues with sheltered housing schemes, regarding bill quotes for updating their system, including fire and community alarms, and the risk that vulnerable older residents would abandon community alarms and other similar schemes due to the cost of installation. The Interim Executive Director for CDC referred to changing national infrastructure, noted the importance of the points raised by the members, and added that there is awareness that some of Surrey’s most vulnerable residents relied on this technology. However, it was not directly in the scope of the digital inclusion work. The Interim Executive Director undertook raising the issue with colleagues in the Adults, Wellbeing and Health Partnership’s (AWHP) directorate.

16. A Member referred to paragraph 12 of the report which outlined that “…the Digital Inlcusion lead will have access to resources allocated via the transformation programme and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy and improve the reach of the programme without duplication, noting that this implied the digital inclusion work was dependent on the agreement of the Customer Transformation budget and draw down of that programme’s budget amounts in each subsequent year. The Member asked, if this was not endorsed, how the Digital Inclusion programme would continue. The Interim Executive Director of CDC explained that the digital inclusion work had been progressing with a reliance on the Digital and Customer Experience Manager and the Programme Manager for EDI and connecting with others across the council and externally. There was no dedicated role specifically for digital inclusion. A conversation was needed around how to balance the different responsibilities between the two roles. The opportunity of connecting digital inclusion to the Customer Transformation programme was to extend the reach and embed benefits. Without this, the status quo would remain.

17. The Vice-Chairman asked how the digital inclusion work would be embedded into the Customer Transformation programme. Furthermore, in reference to paragraph 11 of the report and page 3 of the Digital Inclusion Strategy which referred to the Customer Operating Model, the Vice-Chairman asked where this would be developed and how it would be communicated and shared. The Interim Executive Director of CDC clarified that benefits would accrue from bringing the Customer Transformation Programme and digital inclusion work together, and that the Customer Operating Model was being generated through the Customer Transformation Programme. There would be a ‘SMART’ plan, and there had been discussions around potentially forming a Member Reference Group from this committee to give assurance to this. It was noted that The Digital Strategy and Action Plan will be a standalone part of the Customer Transformation Programme, while the importance of Digital Inclusion would run throughout the entire Customer Transformation Programme as it is relevant to customer experience. They added that, if the Customer Transformation Programme was approved, there would be access to resources such as investment to improve the council’s website functionality, navigation and user accessibility, and programme resource to measure and manage the Customer Transformation Programme, note milestones and measure activity and its benefits. This resource was not currently available to the officers.

18. The Digital and Customer Experience Manager added that bringing the Digital Inclusion Strategy under the Customer Transformation Programme helped get it to its current point, but there was a desire to ensure that it picked up on the range of work in digital inclusion occurring across the council.

19. The Chairman asked what evidence of success by NHS Surrey Heartlands led to them being chosen as a key partner on the digital inclusion project. The Digital and Customer Experience Manager explained that at the time NHS Surrey Heartlands was working on digital inclusion, doing lots to get more residents using more digital means of access within the NHS as the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing. Officers have attended meetings of a group including partner organisations and are working to progress actions from that. The Digital and Customer Experience Manager and the Programme Manager for EDI was going back to the existing group, formed by NHS Surrey Heartlands, in September 2024 and were presenting some things worked on, including work done with the VCFS sector. The officers would try to help take this group forward to ensure delivery.

20. The CEO of Sight for Surrey asked if the group spoken about was the Surrey Digital Inclusion Steering Group. If so, the CEO clarified this group was set up by the voluntary sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, not NHS Surrey Heartlands. NHS Surrey Heartlands were invited to go to the group to learn more about digital inclusion. The original partners on the groups were Surrey Coalition, the Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum (SMEF) and Sight for Surrey.

21. The Chairman stated that he felt Surrey County Council takes digital inclusion issues very seriously. However, the Chairman raised he did not feel NHS Surrey Heartlands took digital inclusion issues seriously, despite people there who understood and cared about digital inclusion, and stated that he understood not one of Surrey’s hospitals was accessible to anyone who was profoundly deaf. He felt that NHS Surrey Heartlands needed to learn from the council and other organisations. The Interim Executive Director of CDC explained the council had an important role to lead the way. The Interim Executive Director was aware of the priorities in the Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy, which included many of the groups that the council would want to think about in relation to digital inclusion. The Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities added that there is an emphasis on this area through the Integrated Care Partnership and the Integrated Care Board.

22. The Chairman invited attendees from the VCFS sector to make any last comments. The CEO of Sight for Surrey stated it was good to see a renewed energy behind digital inclusion in Surrey and that Sight for Surrey remained open to working with the council and health partners. The CEO of the Surrey Coalition added that those that the organisation worked with were vulnerable people that needed the support and it therefore needed to continue. The CEO of Age UK Surrey asked for a continuation in the voluntary sector being asked, invited and involved in discussions and shaping strategies going forward, and that the voluntary organisations are experts in their areas and knew their beneficiaries. The CEO of Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum requested continued consultation with voluntary organisations as they could offer information for future strategies.

RESOLVED:

1.    The Resources and Performance Select Committee notes the draft Digital Inclusion Strategy and the approach of embedding digital inclusion within the Customer Transformation Programme to ensure its reach and sustainability.

2.    However, the Resources and Performance Select Committee also recommends that the Digital Inclusion Strategy is discussed with the Disability Partnership Board and their recommendations, along with those from other representative organisations, including the Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum, come to this committee; and,

3.    The Digital Inclusion Strategy is revised in light of the select committee’s comments and returns to the select committee for further scrutiny after review.

Actions/requests for further information:

I.             The Interim Executive Director of CDC to take forward comments made by a Member regarding accessibility issues at the canteen in Woodhatch Place, in the context of the wider work and lived experience.

II.            The Interim Executive Director or CDC to raise with Adults, Wellbeing and Health Partnership colleagues a Member’s concerns around sheltered housing and bill quotes to update their systems (i.e. fire and community alarms).

Witnesses left and meeting paused for a break at 11.18am

The meeting resumed at 11:26 am