Nottingham City Council Delegated Decision

Nottingham City Council Delegated Decision

Reference Number: 1483Author: Jill SmithDepartment: DevelopmentContact: Jill Smith

(Job Title: Employment & Skills Officer, Email: [email protected], Phone: 01158762528)

Subject: Digital Inclusion Nottingham City Council in partnership with One Nottingham

Total Value: 150,000 (Type: Revenue)

Decision Being Taken: To fund the delivery of digital inclusion inititatives by the Area Lead Organisations through the Area Based Grants process inAreas1,2,3,4,5,6 and 8. £150,000 has been secured from One Nottingham to deliver this activity.

Reference Number: 1483, Page No: 1 of 5

Reasons for the Decision(s) Research by Department for Communities and Local Government in 2009 identified that whilst Nottingham City had high levels ofdigital accessibility it had low levels of take up linked to social exclusion, creating digital exclusion. This was evidenced during a recentEmployer Hub campaign for ASDA's Bulwell distribution centre; ASDA would expect 50% progression of applications from their onlineprocess. In the case of Nottingham City applicants there was a 20% progression rate. As Department for Work and Pensions(DWP) increasingly move to a digital by default approach with more services accessible solely through the internet, this projectaims to increase the digital skills of Nottingham's most deprived communities and remove this additional barrier to employment.

The £150,000 for this project has been secured from One Nottingham by Economic Development. Community based Area Leadorganisations will be funded to deliver work clubs concentrating on Digital Inclusion through Nottingham City Council's Area BasedGrant mechanism which is the preferred route for all monies being channelled into communities. The Six Area Lead Organisations :Right Track (Areas 1 &2) Groundwork Greater Nottingham (Area 3), Castle Cavendish Foundation (Area 4), NG7 Training,Employment and Advice (Area 5) Renewal Trust (Area 6) and Meadows Partnership Trust (Area 8) were selected through an applicationprocess and have been signed off by Exec Board Commissioning Sub Committee on the 27th March 2013. The Lead Organisations havea grant agreement with the Council that specifies outcomes and targets for all areas of funding. The digital inclusion outcomes andtargets will be added to this as a grant variation and quarterly monitoring will be returned to Quality and Comissioning and shared withEconomic Development. Area 7 has not been included as no Area Lead Organisation has been appointed and therefore no fundingmechanism exists at present. Area Lead Organisations will be able to use this funding to develop their Digital Inclusionoffer, build their capacity and align funding and resources such as the Area Based Grant and forthcoming youth contract funding tomaximise outcomes for local people.

The Area Lead Organisations will receive an equal share of the funding £21,428 per area, with one organisation receivingpayment for its 2 areas, in one initial payment to cover the hardware and resourcing costs in line with their own particulardelivery model.

As there is a significant amount of Digital Inclusion training available in Nottingham, through Job Centre Plus, the WorkersEducation Alliance, and other organisations funded through Skills Funding Agency, providers will not be expected to deliver the initialIT training but will be expected to work with other organisations who do. The proposed work clubs will provide ongoing support and anopportunity for regular usage which will progress residents along their journey to digital inclusion.

Whilst the delivery models will be unique to each organisation they will all support residents to complete: Internet job search Online benefit claims and management Meaningful Universal Jobs Match (UJM) activity Registration with other job boards This project aims to develop the digital skills of 1000 people, with Area Lead Organisations providing quarterly monitoring informationon the number of work clubs delivered, attendance numbers including new attendees engaged and UJM accounts opened and active.


The Local Support Services Framework (LSSF) is the government response to some of the challenges presented by theimplementation of Universal Credit, acknowledging that some groups will need additional support. At this time there has been nospecific information released on LSSF but Digital Inclusion activity will be included. Any LSSF DigitaI Inclusion activity will needto consider and compliment the proposed Work Club proposal.


Other Options Considered: 1. Take no action: Nottingham residents will continue to be digitally excluded and unable to fully utilise DWP services including Universal JobsMatch, My Benefits online and other services as DWP move to a digital by default offer. This will result in an additional barrier tounemployed residents securing employment and the City Council commitment to reducing unemployment by 25%.

2. To procure provision through a competitive open tender: The money is being distributed as part of the Councils Area Based Grant process which is the preferred route for all monies beingchannelled into communities. As such there is no need to consult procurement and or enter into an open tender process.

Background Papers: Research by DCLG in 2009 showed that Nottingham had high levels of digital accessibility with low levels of take up due to high levelsof social exclusion. It is the aim of the project to address the socila exclusion gap and encourage greater usage of of accessible webbased services, and help socialy excluded people engage with the jobs market and government services. The JCP/NCC'srecent recruitment for 600+ vacancies vat ASDA's bulwell distribution centre highlighted the fact that nottingham residents appear tohave a significant digital skills deficit, with only 20% of the online applications progressing against an expected 50%. With aneighbourhood approach these work clubs will build the capacity of our Area Lead organisations and will add value to existingfunding streams.

Unpublished backgroundpapers:

Digital Inclusion.doc

Published Works: Executive Board Commissioning Sub Committee Report 'Key Decision - New Small Grant Programme for Communities' Minute Number38

Executive Board Commissioning Sub Committee Report 'Key Decision - Streamlining Investment to the Voluntary and CommunitySector: Area Grant Applications' Minute Number 98.

Affected Wards: Arboretum, Aspley, Basford, Berridge, Bestwood, Bilborough, Bridge, Bulwell, Bulwell Forest, Clifton North, Clifton South, Dales,Dunkirk and Lenton, Leen Valley, Mapperley, Radford and Park, Sherwood, St Ann's

Colleague / CouncillorInterests:

None

Consultations: Those not consulted are not directly affected by the decision.

Crime and DisorderImplications:

n/a

Equality: EIA not required. Reasons: It would be disproportionate to carry out an EIA


Decision Type: Portfolio Holder

Subject to Call In: Yes

Call In Expiry date: 30/05/2014

Advice Sought: Legal, Finance, Procurement

Legal Advice: Having regard to the issues described and the potential benefit derived,the City Council has general statutory powers enabling it toapply the funding in the manner proposed in this form.

Advice provided by Glen O'Connell (Director Legal & Democratic Services) on 03/04/2014.

Finance Advice: The cost of this project can be met from existing resources, and has been included in the planned expenditure. The organisations selected to undertake this project were agreed through the Executive Board Commissioning Sub Committee in March2013. The Voluntary Sector Grants Team in Quality and Efficiency will monitor the outcomes and targets for this project.

Advice provided by Maria Balchin (Finance Analyst) on 02/04/2014.

Procurement Advice: The decision being requested is to utilise the Area Based Grants Process to allocate funding to the lead organisations in each area. Thegrants process was agreed through Executive Board Commissioning Sub Committee on 16/11/2011. The mechanism for payment willneed to follow the agreed process and therefore requires the involvement of the Voluntary Sector Grants Team in Quality and Efficiencyto ensure compliance with the process.

Advice provided by Steve Oakley (Head of Quality and Efficiency) on 28/03/2014.

Signatures Nick McDonald (Portfolio Holder for Jobs and Growth)

SIGNED and Dated: 06/05/2014 David Bishop (Corporate Director Development and Growth)

SIGNED and Dated: 23/04/2014


Digital Inclusion Introduction There has been an increasing push nationally in recent years to improve both the level of Information Technology skills and the availability of access to the Internet. This is seen as having both economic benefits, as jobs increasingly require at least basic computing skills, and social ones, as the internet becomes more widely used as a shopping place, a way of organising lives and an important source of information. Communities and Local Government have made data available through the Community Maps project looking at levels of Digital and Social Exclusion. Broadly this looks at the availability, quality and take up of internet connections and compares this to areas of social exclusion. The aim of this is to emphasise the idea that increasing digital inclusion could have a positive effect on social inclusion. Access to the internet is increasingly seen as a way of saving money rather than a luxury as many utilities and banks offer preferential rates to online customers. It can also work as an important tool to help socially excluded people engage with the jobs market and government services. Pattern of Inclusion and Exclusion Map 1 shows the degree of digital inclusion of the County’s Super Output Areas. The overall pattern seems to be that SOAs in the urban areas, particularly those in the south and west of the County, tend to be relatively digitally included while those in the north and in more rural areas are relatively excluded. This is likely to broadly represent the pattern of internet availability as suppliers tend to concentrate on more accessible and highly populated areas. This leads to many of the larger villages such as Eastwood, Ollerton and Market Warsop being shown as some of the most digitally excluded areas. However, all of the main urban areas also have areas of digital exclusion including some of the most excluded parts of the County. The largest concentrations of digitally excluded areas are around Mansfield and Mansfield Woodhouse and in the Clifton and Bilborough estates in Nottingham City. In these areas, exclusion is more likely to be an issue of low uptake rather as availability is generally good. The low uptake may also be related to the relatively old age profile of some of these areas as people of pensionable age are less likely to use the internet. All of the main urban areas also have areas of digital inclusion although in Worksop and Retford, the concentrations are lower than elsewhere. The highest concentrations of digitally included areas are generally in more affluent areas in the south of the County particularly in West Bridgford. There is also a notable concentration in the centre of Nottingham City which again covers some of the more affluent areas but also covers many of the areas with high numbers of students who tend to be one of the groups most engaged with the internet.

Map 1: Digital Inclusion and exclusion in Nottinghamshire SOAs

Source: Communities and Local Government, 2009. Map 2 seems to confirm low take up as the reason for digital exclusion in urban areas by looking at the SOAs which are both digitally and socially excluded and included. The SOAs classed as ‘broadly’ and ‘deeply’ excluded on both measures were largely in and around the urban areas, with most of the digitally excluded rural areas no longer being highlighted. This suggests that digital exclusion in urban areas is driven

by social exclusion and in rural areas, the lack of availability or choice of providers is more important. The areas of digital and social inclusion are heavily concentrated in the south of the County with over half of the included SOAs being in Rushcliffe and a further quarter split between Nottingham City and Broxtowe. Map 2: Nottinghamshire SOAs which are both socially and digitally included or excluded.

Source: Communities and Local Government, 2009.

Table 1 shows the degree of digital and social exclusion across the County. ‘Broad’ social and digital exclusion refers to SOAs in the bottom 10% of SOAs/Scottish datazones in Great Britain. For inclusion, it refers to the top 9% of SOAs. The table shows that overall, Nottinghamshire has slightly more SOAs which are both digitally and socially excluded than nationally (11.9%) and significantly fewer SOAs which are digitally and socially included (3.4%). Table 1: ‘Broad’ digital and social exclusion and inclusion by district.

% of 'broadly' excluded SOAS % of 'broadly' included SOAS District digitally socially combined digitally socially combinedAshfield 9.5 14.9 6.8 5.4 4.1 2.7Bassetlaw 31.4 20.0 17.1 2.9 2.9 1.4Broxtowe 9.6 4.1 2.7 11.0 17.8 4.1Gedling 7.8 5.2 3.9 2.6 9.1 0.0Mansfield 31.8 37.9 27.3 1.5 0.0 0.0Newark and Sherwood 21.7 11.6 8.7 0.0 10.1 0.0Nottingham 19.9 51.7 18.2 8.0 1.7 1.7Rushcliffe 2.9 4.4 2.9 26.5 42.6 20.6Nottingham and Notts 17.1 23.6 11.9 7.3 9.5 3.4Great Britain 10.0 9.0

Source: Communities and Local Government, 2009. Table 1 also shows that there is significant variation across the County. More than a quarter of Mansfield’s SOAs are both ‘broadly’ digitally and socially excluded as are over 18% of Nottingham’s. In both cases the district has a higher number of socially excluded SOAs but the relative good availability of internet access mean that not all of the socially excluded areas are also digitally excluded. Bassetlaw and Newark and Sherwood districts have the next highest levels of both combined social and digital exclusion (17.1% and 8.7%). This further illustrates the issue of poor internet availability in rural areas as these two districts have a higher percentage of digitally excluded SOAs than socially excluded ones. Social exclusion however remains a problem as shown by the high proportion of socially excluded SOAs which are also digitally excluded in these districts. Rushcliffe is the only district where the percentage of SOAs which are both digitally and socially included (20.6%) is above the national average. The next highest district is Broxtowe with just 4.1% of its SOAs. Only Newark and Sherwood district has no ‘broadly’ digitally included SOAs but three districts have no SOAs which are included on both counts. Nottingham City is notable as it has a relatively high number of broadly digitally included SOAs but relatively few which are also socially included. Going Forward There are two main issues surrounding digital inclusion in Nottinghamshire. Availability is highest in Nottingham City and the surrounding districts and in the larger urban areas but the relatively high levels of social exclusion mean that take up rates are not good. However, it does mean that there is potential to encourage greater use of the internet in these areas and that may have a positive effect on social

exclusion. There is already evidence that some, mostly urban, parts of the County are digitally included due to good availability despite being relatively socially excluded. The second issue relates to the rest of the County outside the main urban areas where digital inclusion is more a question of infrastructure than social exclusion. Improving digital inclusion in these areas may prove to be more problematic as they may be less profitable for companies providing the service. However, there are some areas of significant social exclusion which would benefit from better digital services.

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Nottingham City Council Delegated Decision