While over 1m people have been helped to get online since the launch of the plan, there are calls for the Government to turn promising first steps into lasting change
The Government reports to have made significant progress on its aim to reduce the digital divide
On 24 March 2026, the UK Government published a first annual progress report on its Digital Inclusion Action Plan, highlighting the headway made on various priorities and commitments, many of which are either completed or on track for delivery. In unveiling the report, Liz Kendall (Secretary of State, Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)) emphasised the benefits of being online, including helping people to connect with others, find employment, access government services or find better prices for everyday goods, while outlining her department’s commitment to going “even further” in order to “build a future that works for all”. The Government claims to have made significant progress towards closing the digital divide since 2024, when 1.6m people in the UK did not have access to the internet and around 23% of the population found it difficult to engage with online services. Since the plan’s launch, over 1m people have been connected, many of whom are elderly, disabled or unemployed, or come from low-income households or rural areas. Good Things Foundation has broadly welcomed the steps taken so far, pointing to “tangible [positive] movement” in some areas of digital exclusion. While the charity stated that it remains optimistic about the potential of the action plan, it considers that sustained leadership, investment and accountability are needed from the Government in order to finish the journey and deliver lasting change.
Three of the plan’s five key actions have been completed, and the other two are on track to be delivered on time
The Government has outlined the progress it has made against each of the immediate priorities set in February 2025, with all but two already delivered.
DSIT has been working closely with industry partners, charities and other organisations to tackle digital exclusion
The pledges made by industry partners such as VodafoneThree, Virgin Media O2, BT and CityFibre are largely on track to be met. For example, Virgin Media O2 has reached its goal to connect over 1m digitally excluded people to the internet by the end of 2025, and has provided 8.5m people with online safety advice and digital skills training. Three has donated over 1.4mGB of mobile data to the Good Things Foundation’s National Databank, with the aim of donating a total of 2mGB in 2026. Also, Three’s Discovery digital skills programme has already reached over 235,000 people – well on the way to reaching its goal of 270,000 people by 2030. As the telecoms sector maintains support, DSIT has outlined its own six-point plan of work for the coming year focused on:
Helping more people get fast, reliable and affordable internet services, including ensuring operators meet their commitments under the new Telecoms Consumer Charter;
Ensuring more people get the devices they need by expanding schemes that donate, lend and reuse devices;
Strengthening effective digital support in local communities, applying lessons learnt from existing programmes;
Owning and updating the Essential Digital Skills Framework to reflect the emergence of AI and to help people falling victim to scams;
Make digital services work for everyone, including by building on research into the use of delegate or proxy access; and
Embedding digital inclusion across government, bringing departments together to make sure the issue is built into everyday services and major government plans.
