Metro mayor offers free tablets to bridge Halton digital divide

Hundreds of people living in a Cheshire borough in which nearly 40% have poor digital skills will receive free tablets, internet access and training.

The Liverpool City Region scheme intends to help bridge the digital divide in Halton.

During the coming year 500 tablets, along with training and mobile internet access, will be provided.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said too many in the borough were digitally excluded, harming their prospects.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the scheme was part of a five-year project in which councils were joining forces with the voluntary and private sectors.

A further 4,250 tablets will be distributed across the wider city region, which includes the Merseyside boroughs of Knowsley, St Helens, Wirral, Sefton and Liverpool.

Data from Lloyds Banking Group's 2022 Essential Digital Skills Survey estimated that 37% of Halton residents had "low or very low" levels of online proficiency.

Mr Rotheram said: "The last few years have accelerated the move towards a more digital world and proved how important connectivity and technology will be in all our lives.

"However, there are still too many people in our area who are excluded for a variety of reasons - and struggle to navigate through the digital world."

Residents will be referred on to the initial pilot from the Department of Work and Pensions' Restart Scheme and the Ways to Work programme run by the six Liverpool City Region's authorities.

There will be in-person digital inclusion group training sessions.

Mr Rotheram added: "It's our duty to properly connect our residents up with this 21st Century necessity and schemes like this will help us to directly target those who are most in need of our support.

"We're creating what I hope will be a better-connected future that everyone in our region can benefit from - it's proper levelling up in action."

Recently published analysis by the University of Liverpool estimates nearly 325,000 working age residents across the Liverpool City Region are either limited users of the internet or do not use it at all.

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