WWL2
Improved Digital Skills and Inclusion
Where we live
- Digital
Improved Digital Skills and Inclusion
According to the latest research from the 2023 Lloyds Bank Consumer Digital Index suggests that 96% of people in the UK now make use of the internet regularly (i.e. have been online in the last 3 months). However, there is still a major gap in digital inclusivity and digital skills with approx. 14 million people (approx. 27% of the population) with the lowest digital capability. According to the Digital Poverty Alliance, this means they’re not only likely to struggle to interact with online services but are at risk of being left out of society. 2.1 million people in the UK are offline, and c.4.7 million people cannot connect to Wi-Fi, impacting their everyday lives.
Those getting left behind digitally are more likely to be over 70, however there are over 300,000 people under the age of 50 who are digitally disadvantaged.
The main causes of exclusion, outlined by the Lloyds Consumer Index report, are (i) cost of living (ii) fear of fraud (iii) lack of motivation to learn.
The Essential Digital Skills (EDS) framework outlines 26 life tasks, and 20 work tasks split across five skill areas: Communicating, Handling Information and Content, Transacting, Problem Solving and Being Safe and Legal Online. An individual needs to perform at least one task within each of the five Life and Work skill areas, without assistance, to achieve Life or Work EDS. Digital inclusion needs a combination of access, trust, confidence and capability to develop.
Key Value
££700 per person plus value of any purchased / donated equipment
The Essential Digital Skills (EDS) framework outlines 26 life tasks, and 20 work tasks split across five skill areas: Communicating, Handling Information and Content, Transacting, Problem Solving and Being Safe and Legal Online. An individual needs to perform at least one task within each of the five Life and Work skill areas, without assistance, to achieve Life or Work EDS. Digital inclusion needs a combination of access, trust, confidence and capability to develop.
Some of the benefits of better digital skills are saving time, money and reducing stress.
Those getting left behind digitally are more likely to be over 70, however there are over 300,000 people under the age of 50 who are digitally disadvantaged.
The main causes of exclusion, outlined by the Lloyds Consumer Index report, are (i) cost of living (ii) fear of fraud (iii) lack of motivation to learn.
This is the total value per person with improved digital skills for one year, as measured by Good Things Foundation across nine categories in 2022:
- National Health Service (NHS) savings – £40.00
- Government Efficiency Savings – £60.00
- Time Savings from online transactions – £160.00
- Retail transaction benefits – £260.00
- Corporate Savings – £90.00
- Employment – £7.00
- Earnings – £25.00
- Government Revenue – £20.00
- Environment – £3.00
Overall, the pre-rounded figures for each area of benefit equate to a headline figure of £670.
Adjusted value for inflation to 2023 prices is £712. Our approach to inflation adjustments is explained on our Methodology page HERE
An overall rounded (to nearest 100) value of £700.
The Good Things Foundation 2022 report covers the 10-year period of 2023 to 2032; estimating the costs and benefits of ensuring that as many people as possible within the UK are fully digitally included by the end of 2032. The report includes the costs of inclusion, and the benefits of that inclusion in line with the above 9 benefit streams. The result is a cost benefit ratio of 9.48, indicating that for every £1 invested in digital skills training, £9.48 is gained throughout the economy. The associated net present value is £12.2 billion.
As a comparison, according to recent Lloyds Consumer Digital Index research (2023) those with higher digital and financial capabilities are saving over £900 a year more than those in the lower groups.
Local Needs Analysis Data Source
Before using this MeasureUp value, we encourage you to assess the local need in relation to the activity or outcome.
Here is the most useful initial data source for assessing local need in relation to this value.
To assess local needs related to the value WWL2 ‘Improved digital skills’, you can draw on a range of national and local indicators that capture access, ability, and confidence in using digital technologies. Key data sources include:
Consumer Digital Index (Lloyds Bank UK) – Measures digital capability and confidence across the UK. Data is national and updated annually.
Internet User Classification (Consumer Data Research Centre) – Offers insight into patterns of internet usage and engagement at the LSOA level, last published in 2018.
Digital connectivity (ONS – Local Statistics Explorer) – Shows infrastructure access such as broadband availability, with data available at local authority to country level. You can filter data by country, region, combined authority, or local authority, depending on the indicator.
Digital inclusion (Good Things Foundation) – National-level data exploring barriers to digital access, skills, and confidence. Updated in 2024.
Workforce Digital Gap (Future Dot Now) – National indicator highlighting gaps in essential digital skills among the working population, also from 2024.
Together, these indicators help identify both the structural and skills-based aspects of digital exclusion, supporting targeted interventions to improve digital access and literacy.
If you’re just starting out, start with Bronze first. The result of a Bronze measurement is just an estimate, but requires the least effort; whereas Silver, Gold and Gold+ give more accurate results but require more effort.
Each level has an effort to accuracy indicator, choose the one that’s right for you.
Bronze
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
A single proxy value of £700 per person.
Plus financial cost of any devices purchased/contributed.
Silver
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Per person only count the benefit categories that you believe they will experience:
| Categories | Values in 2023 prices |
| National Health Service (NHS) savings – £40.00 | £43 |
| Government Efficiency Savings – £60.00 | £64 |
| Time Savings from online transactions – £160.00 | £171 |
| Retail transaction benefits – £260.00 | £279 |
| Corporate Savings – £90.00 | £96 |
| Employment – £7.00 | £7 |
| Earnings – £25.00 | £27 |
| Government Revenue – £20.00 | £21 |
| Environment – £3.00 | £3 |
Add any equipment value purchased / contributed.
You could also look at weighting the benefits based on the most important demographic factors for digital inclusion: age, disability, employment status
Gold
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Build on your silver estimations, with actual evidence from your stakeholders. Use this evidence to calculate your value creation estimations.
Gold+
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Build on your Gold, plus:
We can use the estimations of those that would have gained digital skills anyway from the Cebr report and discount this from the Gold figure calculations for our primary data results.
| Value Type: | Outcome |
What's this?
This is the type of value. Some values are outcomes, which means many different interventions might lead to them, others are specific interventions that have a set value. |
|---|---|---|
| UN SDG Categories: |
|
What's this?
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are global goals adopted in 2015 for all signed up nations to achieve for us to have a sustainable global future by 2030. There are 17 Goals that address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030. |
| 2020 Social Value Models: |
|
What's this?
PPN 06/20 Taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts introduced the Central Government Social Value Model in 2020 which all Central Government contracting authorities must use in their in scope procurements. It consists of 5 themes, 8 policy outcomes, and 24 Model Award Criteria which outline key priority areas to achieve more social value. |
| 2025 Social Value Models: |
|
What's this?
PPN 06/20 was superseded by PPN 002 Taking account of social value in the award of contracts, published in February 2025 in line with the Royal assent of the Procurement Act 2023. This PPN outlined the requirement to use the new 2025 Central Government Social Value Model. The Model applies to all Central Government procurements commencing on or after 1 October 2025 under the Procurement Act 2023. Out of scope procurements can choose to apply the model but are not required to do so. The updated model is structured around 5 government missions and 8 outcomes, with 17 Model Award Criteria, and a mandatory minimum 10% weighting of the total evaluation score assigned to social value. |
Evidence
Measure Up empowers you to measure the impact you’re having numerically. We recommend that numeric reports are backed up with stories and other types of evidence to help illustrate, in human terms, the impact that’s being made on individuals.
We recommend seeing consent from one or more participants in your intervention to collect and tell their stories. This should include a little background on the participant, a summing up of life before the intervention, the human impact of the intervention, and the longer-term (if known) impact on the person’s life outside of and after the intervention.
Providing photographs, audio recordings, video interviews or even artefacts from the intervention (for example, writing, paintings, music, etc, from creative interventions) can add more colour and convey the emotional impact of interventions more directly.
In some cases, it’s appropriate to anonymise or abbreviate the personal information of case study participants. No story should be published or shared without the recorded consent of the individual(s) it concerns. Individuals continue to own the rights to their stories, and if they request you stop sharing the story or making it available online, you should do so promptly and without the need for justification.
Feedback
Measure Up is an open, collaborative and transparent. If you have any suggestions or feedback on our pragmatic, recommended approach to measuring and valuing social value, including wellbeing, economic, and fiscal impact, and effects on our environment, please get in touch so we can share and discuss this at our next Advisory Group meeting.
More help
We want to empower anyone to perform and improve their impact measurement – without needing a degree in economics.
If you need any more help or just someone to do the legwork for you, we can help signpost you to software, training and consultancy to help you get to grips with the impact you’re having.
