Present for this item:
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Councillor Mark Watson
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Graham Cadle, Assistant Chief Executive (Customer and Transformation)
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Anne Sturzaker, Go-ON Croydon Co-ordinator
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John Perkins, Doteveryone (was Go-ONE UK)
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Harry Frankland, attended sessions at Age UK Croydon
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Jillian Oxenham, attended Croydon Digital Zone
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Caroline Mack, CEO Croydon Citizens Advice Bureau
Councillor Joy Prince confirmed that she had visited the Go-ON Croydon Digital Zone on Friday 8 April.
Councillor Mark Watson introduced the item by making a short presentation which has been added to the Council website here:
https://secure.croydon.gov.uk/akscroydon/users/public/admin/kabatt.pl?cmte=SOC&meet=12&href=/akscroydon/images/att7115.pdf
A survey by CROYDON Citizens Advice Bureau on digital inclusion and a statement from Gordon Thompson of Canning & Clyde Roads Residents' Association were circulated and also added to the Council website.
The Chair invited contributors to make a short statement before opening the meeting to Members questions:
John Perkins, Doteveryone (was Go-ON UK) stated that there was interest across the UK in what Go-ON Croydon was doing and that Doteveryone was working with other authorities including Lewisham. The work in Croydon would be evaluated in the Summer and at that stage it would be possible to assess what works and what is less successful. He added that the work with community groups was crucial and presented an important outreach opportunity. He asked Members to get in touch if they had ideas about community groups who might be interested in getting involved.
Harry Frankland attended Go-On sessions at Age UK Croydon and informed the Committee that he was 83 years old, had been given an i-pad by his son and wanted to learn how to use it. He stated that he could only use 15-20% of its capability but that he had been amazed at the information available to him. He stated that he is active, gets out and about and it a member of a number of groups but that he finds it hard to energise people of his age group. He said although he was happy to use the i-pad to find out about things he was interested in, he did not want to do his banking online.
Jillian Oxenham was a regular attendee at the Croydon Digital Zone having first visited as she needed to buy a bin for her garden waste. She had been reluctant to open a MyAccount but had been encouraged to do so and with encouragement and help was now able to send and receive emails, cut and paste copy and research things she was interested in. She added that she will now buy and use a computer of her own.
Caroline Mack, CEO Croydon Citizens Advice Bureau stated that it was helpful to encourage people to get online and that it did help reduce expenditure. However she warned that filling in forms - such as those for Universal Credit - was not possible on smart phones or some other devices as the forms were too complicated, were not formatted for these and could not be saved. People therefore had to have access to all the information they needed before they started. She added that this was a surprise to many people.
Anne Sturzaker, Go-ON Croydon Co-ordinator stated that Job Centre + was a Go-ON partner and helped people complete forms for Universal Credit at their offices. She added that the Tinder Foundation which manages a national network of online centres was piloting packages to assist people before they start filling in an online application for Universal Credit. She also informed Members that there were a number of deep dive projects being undertaken through Go-ON including at Cedar Court which would help inform a roll out of the scheme to sheltered housing blocks. For groups where English is a second language, the involvement and support of community groups is key to digital inclusion and the Council is keen to work with groups and move the project forward within these communities.
In response to Members questions, the following information was provided:
The Go-ON Croydon Co-ordinator said:
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Access to the Go-ON programme was available through a number of partners and community groups across the borough including in Bernard Weatherill House every Friday
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Staff aimed to provide help with what people needed to do (such as buy a garden bin) and then extend this to other interests or needs eg. marmalade making, ice hockey, watch Crystal Palace games on YouTube
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The staff do not teach visitors, they provide guidance and support in relation to basic principles such as logging out and password security
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People can bring in their smart phone and find out how to use them more effectively eg. setting up email and partners EE and Argos will also give people free advice about smart phones
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Using smart phones for functions beyond social media and texting is particularly important for job seekers who need to email cvs and fill in application forms etc
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The aim is to enable people to help themselves
The Assistant Chief Executive (Customer and Transformation) stated that:
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The gap between those who can operate online and those who could not was widening and the aim of the programme was to help ensure that as many as possible are not left behind
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The Go-ON website has a heat map which gives an indication of digital usage and the Committee report provides baseline information about usage in Croydon. This will be used when the evaluation takes place later in the year
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Anyone can come in to any of the Zones for help and, depending on their circumstances, it may be possible to integrate this with other support
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Some people do need extra help and the council was working with partners and others to help specific groups of people such as the elderly
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The Council was rolling out new IT kit and the old equipment would be recycled and made available to community groups for use in online hubs
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Those who are not able to get online for whatever reason will be assisted in other ways
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The evaluation of the Go-ON project will help the Council understand how digital inclusion can be encouraged and delivered better
John Perkins, Doteveryone (was Go-ONE UK) informed Members that:
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Some people will consciously self-exclude or may have issues which make it more difficult
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Work was being done with a number of organisations, such as the RNIB, to help people with visibility issues for example
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As broadband and equipment costs continue to reduce, fewer people are excluded for financial reasons
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The Digital Zones do tend to be town centre based which is why the work with community groups is so important especially as the local peer support and encouragement they can offer is very powerful
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Many people use smart phones for social media but they are not able to use them for email or other functions
Cabinet Member Councillor Mark Watson stated that:
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People who self-exclude cost the Council money and when people go online it releases funds to help those who are prevented from doing so for whatever reason
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Zones have been set up wherever we have partners and the Council is looking to fill in the gaps by working with community groups
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The maps which show the locations of Zones have been updated and this will continue to be done as more come online. In addition information can also be found through organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau and partners
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Funding to help community groups set up digital hubs is available through the Active Communities Fund and Ward budget funds and partners are often willing to help fund equipment
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Another aspect of the work is to help small businesses get online and have a web presence as this helps boost business and help them connect with their customers more effectively
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Following the Cabinet decision to changes in housing allocation including online bidding, help will be provided to tenants who need it although most are already engaged as they pay rent and access other services online
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Equipment costs are coming down with tablets now available for under £100 and some broadband packages available for £4 per month
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It is easier for the Council and its partners to provide community groups with equipment rather than training support and as many already have Wi-Fi (eg. in a community hall) a hub can be quickly and easily created
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The Council is working towards installing broadband in social housing and has ambitions to bring Wi-Fi to public spaces in the borough
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Although some forms such as for Universal Credit are difficult to complete on smart phones, more services are now being designed with smart phones in mind
Caroline Mack, CEO Croydon Citizens Advice Bureau provided Members with a summary of the survey results circulated before the meeting and, following questions added that:
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Many people found tablets easier to use than smart phones due to the size of the screen
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Access to resources and skills is key and the Council is working hard to help encourage this
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The CAB has booths which people can use with support but they are not popular as people come to us for face-to-face advice
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It is important to help change expectations about the services people receive as we can see more people face-to-face use online services
Anne Sturzaker, Go-ON Croydon Co-ordinator
Harry Frankland, attended sessions at Age UK Croydon
Jillian Oxenham, attended Croydon Digital Zone
Caroline Mack, CEO Croydon Citizens Advice Bureau
The Committee concluded that digital inclusion presented many social, financial and functional benefits to individuals and that the Council and partners should continue to use their best efforts to encourage those who can to engage with the digital world. The Committee did however sound a note of caution however in that it felt that the Council and partners must provide support to those people who were unable to engage online.
The Committee RESOLVED to:
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Ask the Assistant Chief Executive (Customer and Transformation) to formally send the outcomes arising from the evaluation of the Go-ON Croydon programme (to be undertaken later in 2016) to the Scrutiny and Overview Committee as soon as it is available.
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Ask the Assistant Chief Executive (Customer and Transformation) to inform Members to come forward with ideas for community groups which might be interested in setting up a digital hub and to encourage them to use Ward budget funding to support this where such funds are available.
The Chair thanked everyone for attending the meeting for this item, particularly Mr Frankland and Mrs Oxenham for the very valuable insight they had offered to the Committee.