Council Housing Digital Inclusion

Sheffield City Council's Housing and Neighbourhoods Service seeks to increase the digital skills and motivation to access services via digital channels within communities, which will assist Sheffield City Council Housing tenants to access more cost effective and efficient services, improve quality of life and improve health and well-being. Digital inclusion is a business priority for Sheffield City Council's Housing and Neighbourhoods Service and a significantly emerging agenda for the Council as a whole. It is particularly relevant when considering the impact of Welfare Reform and maintaining the rent income to the Council. We know that we have around 16,000 tenants who meet the criteria for claiming Universal Credit and do not have the access, skills and/or ability to claim online. We also know that circa 54.5% of social demographic group DE (semi-skilled & unskilled manual occupations, unemployed and lowest grade occupations) have no or limited access to online services which further exacerbates the social divide. Our main aim is to maximise the levels of digital inclusion within our communities to encourage tenants to access the opportunities available to them on-line as well as accessing public services more easily these range from Improved employment opportunities, higher levels of educational attainment, accessing cheaper goods and products. However, too often those who are excluded from these benefits are the very same people who are also disadvantaged according to most other social and economic measures. In the longer term SCC will realise the benefits of channel shift as tenants move towards a model of self service and cheaper channels of communication.