Cross-party UK MPs Seek Free Broadband for 1.3 Million Kids
A cross-party group of MPs will this week reportedly propose a new bill, which seeks to help solve the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) induced education crisis by requiring that up to 1.3 million school children (i.e. those eligible for free school meals) are also equipped with free broadband connectivity to help them learn.
According to The Guardian and Huffpost, around 700,000 children have been left stuck in a “digital divide” and are allegedly unable to complete “any” school work due to a lack of internet connectivity at home (this may be stretching things a bit since pens and paper do still exist). The new bill, which is to be proposed by Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh, seeks to help solve this with the gift of free broadband.
The UK Government’s Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, has already attempted to help tackle this once by pledging to spend £100m on a new scheme (here); this aimed to provide 230,000 computers (laptops, tablets etc.) and 4G based mobile broadband routers to “disadvantaged children” across England (e.g. those who receive support from a social worker and care leavers).
Unfortunately the aforementioned scheme has suffered delays and, judging by our own inbox (quite a few parents have asked ISPreview for help and we’re just as stumped), many parents have been left confused and uncertain about how they access the support. As we understand it the distribution was supposed to be handled by schools and other education related organisations, but a lot of those are still waiting for some movement.
On top of that the scheme only mentioned 4G broadband routers, but not whether they would include service provision (judging by some reports, they won’t).
Siobhain McDonagh MP said:
“The lockdown has exposed the digital divide in our society, with schools across the country reporting struggling families who do not have internet access at home.
Those children who can’t access the same resources as their classmates will find themselves even further behind when they finally return. Some may never catch up.
This policy isn’t a silver bullet and can’t replace months of missed education. But it would make an immediate, tangible difference to families right across our country.”
A number of key questions here remain unanswered, not least with respect to whether these problems are caused by issues of affordability or broadband availability (some will probably be both, but not all). The very latest independent data from Thinkbroadband states that fixed “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) connections are available to 96.73% of UK premises and only 1.46% are unable to access speeds of 10Mbps+.
Meanwhile 4G mobile coverage is much harder to pin down due to the variable nature of the signal and its environment. Likewise we have to consider the difficulty of even knowing what kind of mobile broadband speed may be viable in any given area. Ofcom’s most recent coverage report (here) found that 97% of outdoor premises should be covered by all operators, but this falls to 67% for geographic coverage (although EE alone can reach around 91%).
Clearly some work still needs to be done on the detail and then there’s the question of supply (i.e. if you seek to provide free broadband then what kind of service would that be and who will supply it?), which is in turn likely to raise more complicated questions around fairness of distribution and funding. No doubt the Government would rather the industry paid but, given the scale and current COVID-19 pressures, that might not be realistic.
Meanwhile the Department for Education has responded by pledging to “do whatever we can to make sure no child, whatever their background, falls behind as a result of coronavirus.” The new bill, once proposed, appears to have the backing of quite a few cross-party MPs including people like former PM Tony Blair, ministers from other parties (inc. the government) and various children’s charities.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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more free stuff for people who don’t want to work
Yes I’m sure that’s exactly what people across the country think as they watch a post-COVID-19 world destroy their jobs and livelihoods. If you still have a job then count yourself lucky and I hope you, like many others, won’t lose it over the next few months. A little common sense and sensitivity to the reality of what’s happening doesn’t hurt.
melodramatic much.
oh dear, people had to sit at home and get paid 80% to do nothing. yes, lives destroyed…
the interesting bit of this is Coronavirus) induced education crisis by requiring that up to 1.3 million school children (i.e. those eligible for free school meals) are also equipped with free
they will know exactly where they are and what postcode is covered and I would assume that vast amounts of those will be areas not poorly serviced by broadband
would be very interesting to see where the geopgraphic spread of these actually are
Sorry but, I have to agree with workingidiots sentiment though maybe not quite in the way he presented it. This is nothing to do with the nasty virus.
1) The story does state this is for children eligible for free school meals. These 1.3 Million the story mentions, or at least the majority of that 1.3 Million would had been getting free meals loooong before the cough cough came along. Though why that lot of children even get free school meals (virtue signalling and get the poor vote i imagine) is beyond me. My family was poor growing up and like the rest of the poor kids i had to make do with a packet of crisps, a marmite sandwich and if lucky a chocolate biscuit. If parents nowadays can not afford even that for their child id like to know how they pay household bills.
2) Even if this was about Covid and a household suddenly being poorer, then quite how giving kids across the land free internet is going to help is a mystery. If you suddenly find yourself jobless and could not afford to have the internet before you became jobless, you certainly are not going to be able to afford £10, £20, £30, £40 or more a month for it now. NEVER mind the computer or laptop you are also likely to need to go along with it for your precious little baby to do its homework. If you had the internet before and now you can not afford it because you lost your job, then i still do not agree with this. You can teach your child basic Maths, English, Geography and History quite easily without the internet, that is assuming the folk who would sooner chuck their kid in front of a screen and grab free school meals have been educated enough before they decided to breed. (ill let others decide that). Maybe we should throw in a free Science lab as i can not see an easy way to practically teach that, internet or not.
This is nothing more than political, just enough to make the stupid who can not think beyond one foot in front of the other that the government care about you loosing your job.
@workingidiot
actually many didnt get 80% wages as their jobs didnt join the scheme and were forced to claim universal credit which l should note just doesnt show up in your bank immediately, the majority have to wait up to 5 weeks for their first payment, however due to the pandemic staff levels have been severely cut meaning some have waited more than 5 weeks with no money. thank yourself lucky you werent one of them.
A lot of these folks have tunnel vision. They focus on certain individuals while the people who need it do without. There’s the whole picture to look at. If this helps even one childs education, that is a win to me. There should not be price on that. Yes, people will abuse it like people abuse welfare payments, but even if those welfare payments help those that truly need it then its worth it to me. Sure, you can pop to the library for books for your child but the internet is the here and now. A library pales in comparison that is the internet in terms of information. The internet offers interactive learning that is fun for children that a book may not. Some children are different. They absorb information differently. Some can read a book and take the information in while some require a more interactive hands on approach. The list goes on. What may have worked for you as a child might not work for every child. We need to get away from the “i didn’t have this as a child, we did alright they’ll manage” mentality.
“Sure, you can pop to the library for books for your child but the internet is the here and now. A library pales in comparison that is the internet in terms of information. The internet offers interactive learning that is fun for children that a book may not. Some children are different. They absorb information differently. Some can read a book and take the information in while some require a more interactive hands on approach. The list goes on. What may have worked for you as a child might not work for every child. We need to get away from the “i didn’t have this as a child, we did alright they’ll manage” mentality.”
You need to get out more. Most libraries also have the internet so while penniless billy and mummy are in there looking at the books you now think are dated, boring and not good enough for little billy they can plonk them on the ‘free’ computer and ‘free’ internet connection to do their (COUGH) homework. I in return can have my taxes spent elsewhere where they benefit me and society as a whole rather than a small fraction of it that need to be wrapped up in cotton wool and virtue signalled every minute of the damned day to feel special.
Am i gonna have to fund buying them nappies on top of free school meals and free internet next? Here is an idea for those that can not afford to have/raise a child keep your slong in your pants if you are a man and if you are a woman your legs closed.
Im frankly sick of all this what about the children rubbish. I have yet to meet a so called “POOR” household in this day and age that can not afford to feed their child going without luxury in some form. Hows about you ditch your TV and save on the licence fee (and the satelite/cable and the football half these oh help me im poor have) to feed little billy… Sell your car to buy him the internet and a computer, stop relying on me to do it for you.
There is a food bank in my town which is a prime example, of the “oh i need help” society. Food banks a good idea in theory, help feed the poor of society. Its a pity half that visit it rock up in their car, park outside for the next 15 minutes and jam up the road. Can afford the gallon of petrol to get to the food bank and back home but can not afford a can of beans??? Do me a favour.
Sorry, i just see child blaming. Ya know, the kids that don’t choose their parents. It’s little “Billy’s” fault i suppose. Damn you billy for being poor. Damn you Billy for forcing your parents to abuse government handouts. Damn you Billy for forcing your parents to buy cigarettes and booze so they can’t afford a internet connection. Just damn bloody you Billy! It’s all your god damn fault. I see your point now, Onthechildren. It was billy’s fault all along.
No what you describe is called bad parenting and giving bad parents free internet or free anything else will not make them better parents.
They will not give a toss if their child is using the free internet for the homework they are supposed to be doing or playing games online.
Giving bad parents anything for free just exasperates the situation. Give the child free meals = more money the poor parents can spend on the cigarettes and booze you mention.
Give them free internet and its just something the poor parents can shove the poor child in front of see they can do even less parenting with them.
Growing up in a poor household my parents never asked for any type of help from anyone. My school uniform was even second hand, if my trouser wore a hole in them they got a patch stitched on them rather than a new pair.
In this day and age it would had been no different. If i were still a child my parents would not had been demanding or wanting free internet for me. If it was needed for my education they would had dragged me to the library and sat by my side until i had completed the school work what was required on the computer and internet there.
Our library charges £5 for a 3 year card, it has books, DVDS and the internet. If my parents could not even scrap together that £5 i know what the would had done. Dragged my backside down to McDonalds car park or anywhere else on the highstreet that offers free internet and sat me outside using that until i was done. (then and only then if they could afford it which would had been unlikely or once or twice a year at most UNLIKE todays parents i would had got my Happy Meal WHEN DONE).
Some people just want everything for free or like you at the least seem to support those with that attitude, rather than take responsibility for yourself/thereself and the child. You do not know what it is like to truly struggle or think on how to cope if you are struggling. Because in this day and age hard work be it actual or moral, thinking, making priorities and parenting seem to be nasty unfair words and everything must be served to the “disadvantaged” on a silver platter.
“Damn you Billy for forcing your parents to buy cigarettes and booze so they can’t afford a internet connection.”
Yes so poor, they have had the government handout for the booze and fags now they need the government handout for the brats internet. How dare anyone question giving a family like that, lets screw outrage they want to punish the child.
If we care about children that much take them away from slobs like that and put them in a loving environment which will educate the child. I would sooner any government take 10x times my taxes to do that then give dregs of society like that even more free sh!&.
Isn’t part of the problem that a sizeable % of these households couldn’t actually get a decent connection commercially?
I’m all for making sure that a social level of connection is provided and if it is a socially subsidised connection then the ports used for school work etc need to be prioritised over Netflix/YouTube!!
Educating kids at home is a nightmare at the best of times not much helped by the schools using the web based tools to simply replicate the paper based stuff they used to do. Honestly with a lot of the stuff my kids were sent, it was easier to print it and then get them to do the work and send a scan/photo back. And that is from someone who took the office paperless 10+ years ago.
@A_B – sizable %? 95% can get >30M.
@A_B – sizeable %? – 95% can get >30M.
@TheFacts
MDU’s tend not to have benefitted much from IR’s largess so unless an alt net has fibred you up, you might be fresh out of luck….
It’s probably more likely that those households can’t afford anything other than a basic service even where better is available. They may also lack suitable devices for home learning. It’s still true (last time I checked) that a minority of people buy a super or ultra fast connection – most buy the cheapest which in some cases means download limits.
This is only a good thing and should have been brought up sooner. England is strong enough to support its worse off citizens and is an international measure of that strength.
The thing that’s annoying me is that the Cross party MP’s seek to help kids in England, not the UK. Can we get away from the headline stuff and say it how it is, only, the devolved nations are ok to sort themselves but only if the English MP’s agree to let them and if they find the budget from elsewhere…broadband connectivity is a UK gov problem and is not part of the devolved powers of Scot, Wales and N.I parliaments.
min internet speed should be a human right these days.
like having a free library card or
going to school for free.
Dunno where you live but “free” library cards for the librarys i know of were done away with long ago. The one under my local authority charges £5 for a 3 year card and £2.50 if you lose your card and need it replaced, still a bargain IMO though.
This has consistently Government shown that it cannot get into gear on anything for weeks and continues to make things more complicated than they need be (local authority etc). Throwing money at it now will simply be too late and wasted.
There are excellent schools out there but unfortunately there are a lot of abysmal ones. I emailed Gavin Williamson on 29/04/20 regarding the issues (no reply of course).
Long term we must get an enhanced USO to every home and the policies going forward need to ensure all main ISPs offer a basic entry level product for qualifying families (like BT Basic).
Most Schools (regardless of full time ICT support) have simply not purchased the correct platforms to present, teach or engage students and parents (the solutions are not the same).
Schools should be funded properly with say Chromebooks that they can then lent to their students out of class whether Covid, other illness, homework or summer school.
As for connectivity there is still a lot we can do increasing the bandwidth cap on Public WIFI, sharing our broadband via Guest AP or just showing them how to tether to a mobile phone. Providers have been waiving data limits and public WIFI could have been made free.
We needed expediency and practicality. Instead 6 weeks later the issues are still there.
Apologies for typos.
Funding public wifi like they have in other areas of the world would indeed be one of the better ways to ensure everyone had some type of access, even if it was slow it in most case would be enough to visit a web site.
A friend of mine is a college lecturer and she has told me that some of her students have to share a laptop at home and in some cases don’t even have broadband (leaving them to doing their online learning with their mobile phone).
If they can afford a mobile phone they can likely afford a laptop (even if its used, many even new are cheaper than some phones). If they can not afford a fixed line broadband connection i assume they some how can afford the internet on their phones if that is what they are using for school work… Answer buy a used laptop and tether the phone you already have to it.
Christ knows what they are gonna do why they leave college and then want to go to university, well apart from carry on whinging they can’t afford things.
It seems unlikely. Given that many of these people can’t afford to buy food and rely on food banks, the purchase of even a second hand laptop is a stretch too far. I don’t follow your logic – “If they can afford to buy one thing they must be able to afford another.” That’s not how money works.
Food banks report that many people ask for food that doesn’t need refrigeration or cooking because they can’t afford the electricity to do either. There’s a campaign to extend free school meals into the summer holidays in England (Scotland and Wales already do this) because families literally don’t have enough money for food. People have no savings to call on because they’re ineligible for benefits until their savings are gone. The reality of life for many less fortunate families is unremittingly harsh.
“Food banks report that many people ask for food that doesn’t need refrigeration or cooking because they can’t afford the electricity to do either. ”
If they can not afford electricity to cook then how are they charging the mobile phone they already own in the example which was given initially???? They either have electricity or they do not.
“the purchase of even a second hand laptop is a stretch too far. I don’t follow your logic – “If they can afford to buy one thing they must be able to afford another.” That’s not how money works.”
NO, sorry i agree with Ohthechildren. You can pick up a used laptop from places like gumtree for under £30, it will not let the poor suffering child play fortnite but it will be enough to browse a website fill in answers to questions and send emails. Or in other words do homework.
Perhaps they should buy a £30 laptop rather than a several hundreds of pounds mobile phone if their education is more important?
@Steven.
Low income households have to pre-pay for electricity at much higher rates than people who post-pay. They charge up the token, use electricity and when it’s run out they have to buy more. Fridges and cookers use lots of electricity, charging a phone not so much. This isn’t difficult to understand.
I’m lucky enough to be able to afford to buy my kids computers for school. A £30 laptop won’t cut it because work has to be completed using the school’s Office 365 setup. A £30 laptop can’t run the browser required to use Office 365. The minimum spec machine I could get for my 12yo that met the school’s requirements was £400 as a refurb.
A £30 laptop will be running an unsupported version of Windows. I don’t know about you but I prefer my kids be on the Internet on an up to date, secure OS and browser.
A perfectly usable mobile can be had from Tesco’s for £80, not hundreds. Why are you so determined to prove that poverty doesn’t exist?
“Low income households have to pre-pay for electricity at much higher rates than people who post-pay. They charge up the token, use electricity and when it’s run out they have to buy more. Fridges and cookers use lots of electricity, charging a phone not so much. This isn’t difficult to understand.”
One of the things that use most electricity vs time frame in a house believe it or not is a kettle, so unless they have all quit drinking tea and coffee which obviously they have not because food banks provide both those then again nope that argument does not compute either. Likewise canned food which is another staple they provide along with pasta and rice often requires cooking or at least heating through. I grew up poor i know many who are poor, so im quite aware of what is provided.
You are also wrong about the computer….
1 Any laptop that runs Windows 7 can be upgraded totally legally to Windows 10 for free. Windows 10 hardware requirements are the exact same as windows 7 was…..
windows 7…
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/10737/windows-7-system-requirements
windows 10…
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4028142/windows-10-system-requirements
Office 365 likewise can be had legally free for students
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/education/products/office
SO NO you do not need a £400 laptop so you can stop that BS also.
“Of course they’re not poor, they’re just having too many hot drinks.” Got you.
More like buying £400+ laptops because like you they think they need to spend that much to run windows 10 and office LMAO.
The free tea and coffee the freeloaders also claim is just a bonus they can poor down their throats while their backside is in front of their tax payers financed £400+ laptop.
I guess that is the trouble though, stupid people with not enough brains to look after thereself or make any sensible financial decision let alone know a 10+ year old computer and its specs are more than enough to run Microsofts latest Operating system.
Perhaps that is the real reason we have to keep giving them money, they have not got the brains to figure out where what money they do have should be spent. Or they are just entitled a$$holes that want the £400+ laptop.
Most schools require you to do your homework online, and you can only access it this way. This was before Covid. So they have to go to the library to do their homework every week? Really? I know a family that only has one laptop to be shared by 3 kids. And no they can’t get another one, so yes a scheme like this would be helpful. That £30 on internet can be used for heating or to go towards food. Feeding a family healthy is not cheap.
“Most schools require you to do your homework online, and you can only access it this way. This was before Covid. So they have to go to the library to do their homework every week? Really? I know a family that only has one laptop to be shared by 3 kids. And no they can’t get another one”
Many people go to their local library on a daily basis and not just poor people. If a family only has 1 laptop between 3 kids, then the library is an ideal solution as the computer and the internet will be provided to you there. It will also be an ideal environment for the child to study, quiet and peaceful away from its other 2 brother/sisters in the house.
“That £30 on internet can be used for heating or to go towards food. Feeding a family healthy is not cheap.”
If they are paying £30 currently for the internet they can not be that poor, if they were they would not be able to afford it in the first place. Feeding a family is not cheap but that goes for anyone not just the “poor”.
“I know a family that only has one laptop to be shared by 3 kids. And no they can’t get another one”
How much did they pay for that laptop? Was it new or used?
You can buy used laptops for £30 on gumtree and similar sites, if they spent over £100 on that single laptop (i bet they did). They could of had 3 for less than the price of 1, but oh nooo i suspect their special children had to have the latest and greatest RGB, all singing, shiny new item. GTFO
“You can buy used laptops for £30 on gumtree and similar sites, if they spent over £100 on that single laptop (i bet they did). They could of had 3 for less than the price of 1, but oh nooo i suspect their special children had to have the latest and greatest RGB, all singing, shiny new item. GTFO”
I have just literally seen a snippet of something akin to this on channel 5 news. Something in relation to some footballer wanting funding for families to feed their children during school holidays, which was follow by 2 children which apparently already get free school meals having a web cam interview with the news presenter….. AND what did the so called poor children that can not afford to be fed or their school dinners have as their computer…….. YES you guessed best part of a £1000 Apple mac book.
You literally can’t make this Sh1t up, £120 a month for school dinners but that family would sooner buy an Apple Mac rather than feed their kids for a year WTF!.
Makes me sick…
https://twitter.com/i/status/1272926176353423361
“Makes me sick…
https://twitter.com/i/status/1272926176353423361”
Just goes to show how stupid things have become, scream enough that you are entitled and you can have whatever you want.
Just watched that and i noticed something else entirely…. His logo branded hoodie top, so i went and googled that and apparently RRP for a champion hoodie like he has is £50-60. You can (if poor and got to save the pennies) go and get a similar styled but non-branded item from primark under £15 and elsewhere for around £10.
So ehmmm yeah. Apple laptop, and 60 quid hoodies. Yeah that family obviously needs free school dinners and its offspring feeding during holidays. Agreed Disgusting.
Hmmm, if only there was a polictical party that proposed pretty much exactly this last year, but free broadband for everyone not just children from poor families.
As I understand it, this was mocked by many people on here;
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/11/2020-labour-party-pegs-20bn-to-deploy-free-full-fibre-for-all.html
(65% I Don’t Like it)
Such short memories from many people..
Disgusting, hate filled attacks on people just because of something they’ve seen on “Channel 5”, or more likely read in the Daily Hate, making them froth at the mouth.
A stunning lack of empathy from many people on here, looks like this country really has taken up it’s Little England “i’m alright Jack, so screw the rest of you” mantle with aplomb.
65% did not want a party in charge that had no idea how it was going to raise money for its lofty goals (thankfully it seems around 2/3rds of the readers still have a brain).
As to the rest is it really hateful to say a family that can afford premium items of any description does not need help in life? At what point do you personally decide someone does or does not need financial help? Do i need financial help and free food because i can not justify buying the £120 computer mouse i want or the £200 keyboard? If not i fail to see how anyone needs feeding for free if they can afford an apple laptop.
The best way out of the cycle of poverty is access to education and educational resources, for children and adults.
The Internet is one of the best ways to achieve that. I don’t think there is any issue with providing a basic Internet connection to those less well off. You don’t need the fastest connection in the world for educational purposes.
You also don’t need to nationalise broadband to achieve this. All that would do would slow the spread of decent coverage and kill any competition. That’s why everyone said it was a stupid idea, not because they hate the poor.
Providing some kind of basic connection to people is a good idea, i have no issue with that.
I actually think the thing BT is doing https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2020/06/isp-bt-gift-6-months-free-wifi-access-to-disadvantaged-uk-kids.html
Is closer (though i still disagree with the “poor” ethos part) to a better way to solve the basic connectivity situation.
What i disagree with is lavishing anyone with anything of a premium for free when others have to work hard for it.
I fail to see why premium connectivity is more important for any one group of society be they rich or poor.
If connectivity is that important then MAYBE give a bottom run of the ladder service (like BTs sharing bandwidth via wifi idea) to people and anyone that wants better (that is want not need because you would not need more for kids homework) let them decide if they should pay for their want of better or stick with what they need.
To be honest… Why anyone even thinks everyone should be entirely and utterly equal in every way (a dumbness that seems to have spread in the last 5 years or so) or how these people think it would ever even be possible i have never, ever been able to wrap my head around. It would be a never ending vicious cycle.
Here is a simple scenario…
Mr X has a big house, Mr Y is living in a bedsit but must have the same as he is poor and doesn’t have the luxury of Mr X so we give Mr Y a big house….
Next week Mr X says screw that and goes and buys a bigger new house…
Mr Y to be equal now has to be given a 2nd upgrade to give him the same sized house again…
Next week Mr Z comes along and he builds a better and bigger house than what both Mr X and Mr Y have and so now we have reached the situation where we have to give not only Mr Y a third new house but we also now have to give Mr X his first free house also……… And on and on and on the stupidness goes.
Or the long and short for these justice for the poor warriors…
Some people will always have more or better than others, welcome to the real world.