Under the Freedom of Information act 2000 I would like to know what budget/policies your council have put in place to combat digital poverty/digital exclusion (such as lack of access to devices/internet or digital skills training) over the last 3 years. Please break down by financial year, and include the following:

1. Amount of money/budget spent (£) on devices, digital skills training or anything else across each of the last three financial years (or as far back as you can provide)
• The Children’s Services ICT Team manage a Council-funded scheme to provide laptops/tablets for Children in Care and Care Leavers (including Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children).
The scheme has been in place since 2009 and over this time has provided more than 400 laptops. In recent years, the amount spent has been £20k to £22k annually.
• Wokingham Adult Education have an ongoing course for more than 6 years that was called UK Online - now called Digital Skills for Beginners. One session a week is run by a tutor, supported by volunteers with the use of the room at Wokingham Library for free. This is aimed at getting people online, or using their devices better to access online services and communicate digitally. Wokingham Adult Education have had Getting Connected Online sessions during the past two years which were 1:1 sessions to give digitally unconfident learners the skills to access Zoom so they could access remote learning. Costings for the past three years: 2019/20 - £3,602; 2020/21 - £3,804; and 2021/22 – £3,880. These courses are part of the Tackling Loneliness Strategic Intent area of the Adult Education Curriculum
• £26K 2020/21, £26K 2022/23, training and support via Friendship Alliance VCS, supporting isolated elderly population

2. Amount of devices donated to families, schools, or charities in need
Please also include a breakdown of each device type (i.e. laptop, mobile phone, tablet, etc.) and associated costs
• Starting in Summer 2020, a DfE (Department for Education) scheme provided laptops/tablets to ‘Children with a Social Worker’ and Care Leavers. Approx. 270 laptops were provided with the DfE funding and allocated by the Council to children/young people that were working at that time with a Social Worker. These were provided free of charge to the end users. The Council funded the cost of ongoing support, using a local IT Technical Support company.
• During 2020/21 supported the Friendship Alliance with 20 tablets at a cost of £4K, for elderly residents to keep connected during Pandemic. There was also a "upcycling" scheme during the pandemic to help families get laptops for school children. Working with "First Days and a local computer repair company, approximately 50 repaired laptops and 15 new laptops were issued at a cost of £7.5K.

3. A list of any specific policies, activities or consultations introduced to tackle digital poverty
• The Wokingham Tackling Poverty Strategy & Action Plan places an emphasis on digital inclusion, particularly for low-income families to support education, employment opportunities and training.
• During the Covid pandemic in 2020/21, a Council Digital Inclusion group met virtually to liaise with colleagues across the Council and local Charities.
• Connections were made with a local charity that support families in need and we continue to liaise with them from time to time where appropriate, occasionally including the provision of loan equipment when possible.