Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Resources updating Members on progress to date on the digital inclusivity motion passed at Council (16 November 2024 Minute 53.8).

RESOLVED that:

(1)       progress on exploring partnering with the DAISI (Digital Accessibility, Inclusion, Support and Innovation) project hosted by GRCC (Gloucestershire Rural Community Council) is noted;

(2)       the update on the review of support to help residents on lower incomes to access social tariffs for broadband and mobile phone access and make recommendations for improvement is noted;

(3)       the progress made on accessibility of the website and the further improvements planned is noted;

(4)       the Council continues to explore using DAISI to support our residents. The Council will also consider how to use other community groups and locations (such as libraries) to support residents improve digital inclusivity.

6.1   Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Resources which sought to update Members on progress to date on the digital inclusivity motion passed at Council in November 2023.

6.2   The Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor Wilson, introduced the report and outlined the recommendations as set out at 2.1. He confirmed that the Council was already in an exploratory partnership with the DAISI project and had requested that the project independently review the accessibility of the  Council website. Councillor Wilson also noted that there was a potential to explore further avenues with the DAISI project on supporting digital skills and inclusion in the future.

6.3   In respect of the request for Officers to review support to help residents on lower incomes access social tariffs for broadband and mobile phones, Councillor Wilson advised Cabinet that the Council recently ran a campaign on social media highlighting the social tariffs available. He further confirmed that Officers had engaged with residents in receipt of Universal Credit directly either by email where there was an address on record or via written letter, noting that work was also underway to explore whether a Digital Inclusion Navigator to coordinate support might be effective in Gloucester.

6.4   Councillor Wilson noted that work had been undertaken to improve access to the Council website, and that the Council was now achieving 99% compliance compared to 68% compliance before the review and upgrades. He expressed the view that it had been a good project but future work was needed in this area.

6.5   Councillor Hilton expressed his view that good progress had been made so far on digital inclusivity and thanked Officers for their work in progressing the motion.

RESOLVED that:

(1)       progress on exploring partnering with the DAISI (Digital Accessibility, Inclusion, Support and Innovation) project hosted by GRCC (Gloucestershire Rural Community Council) is noted;

(2)       the update on the review of support to help residents on lower incomes to access social tariffs for broadband and mobile phone access and make recommendations for improvement is noted;

(3)       the progress made on accessibility of the website and the further improvements planned is noted;

(4)       the Council continues to explore using DAISI to support our residents. The Council will also consider how to use other community groups and locations (such as libraries) to support residents improve digital inclusivity.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Resources seeking to update Members on progress to date on the digital inclusivity motion passed at Council in November 2023.

7.1      Councillor Wilson introduced the report which updated Members on progress made to date on the digital inclusivity motion passed at Council in November 2023. He summarised the context of the report which was set out in paragraph 3.

7.2      Councillor Wilson advised that the Council had entered an exploratory partnership with the DAISI (Digital Accessibility, Inclusion, Support and Innovation) project run by the GRCC (Gloucestershire Rural Community Council). He noted that work was underway to review the Council’s website and that the Council was exploring a project with DAISI on supporting digital skills and inclusion in the future.

7.3      Councillor Wilson informed Members that a campaign had recently been run on social media highlighting the social tariffs available for mobile and broadband. He noted that a link to this support had been provided on the Cost of Living section of the Council’s website, and further advised that the Council had written to residents in receipt of Universal Credit by email and had sent letters to residents without email addresses on record to highlight the social tariff support. Members were also advised that the Council had invested in automated scanning tools to review the website content and highlight where accessibility changes were needed. It was noted that following various upgrades, the scanning tools indicated that the website was now achieving 99% compliance compared to 68% before the tools were in place.

7.4      Referring to 14.1 in the report, Councillor Hyman asked whether risk would be alleviated provided that the Council complied with the Accessibility Regulations. The Head of Transformation and Commissioning confirmed this was the case. He explained that primary legislation was passed in 2018 which stipulated that all websites published after 2018 needed to be compliant with accessibility standards. He further advised that random spot checks were undertaken on websites to ensure compliance and that the Council aimed to be proactive in this respect.

7.5      Councillor Radley noted that she was pleased to see the progress outlined in the report and asked whether any user testing had been undertaken on the website. The Head of Transformation and Commissioning explained that DAISI had access to community groups which would form part of the testing.

7.6      Councillor Walker asked whether the Council was signposting the social tariff support to residents going through the process of applying for Universal Credit. Councillor Wilson confirmed that the Council had signposted the support to residents already on the system, however he confirmed that he would take up this idea with DAISI. 

7.7      Councillor S. Chambers asked whether any work was being undertaken to improve accessibility around the online Planning Portal. The Head of Transformation and Commissioning noted that the online portal was a service purchased by the Council as part of the overall the Planning software and therefore short-term improvements to the service could be limited. He confirmed that the Council was looking into how language on the facility could be made more accessible.

7.8      Councillor James asked for further information on the accessibility regulations.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7