Broadband: Social Tariffs

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology written question – answered at on 27 February 2024.

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Photo of Kenny MacAskill Kenny MacAskill Alba, East Lothian

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that providers of broadband social tariffs apply the same (a) discount levels and (b) eligibility criteria to those tariffs.

Photo of Julia Lopez Julia Lopez Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office), The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government recognises that this is a difficult time for households across the country who are struggling with their bills due to the rise in the cost of living.

Social tariffs are offered on a voluntary basis by 27 telecommunications providers and are available in 99% of the UK for the around 5 million eligible households on Universal Credit as well as other means-tested benefits. The design of broadband and mobile social tariffs, including pricing, speeds, and eligibility, are decided by individual operators, and this has resulted in a good range of offers for people to choose from.

The Government does not currently have plans to intervene in the telecommunications market to prescribe the make-up of social tariffs. We recognise that low-income households need help with their bills now and any legislative proposal will take time to design and deliver and may cause operators to withdraw their existing social offers. In December 2023, Ofcom’s Pricing Trends report showed 380,000 households were taking up a social tariff. This is an increase of almost 160% since their September 2022 report. We continue to work closely with Ofcom to monitor market provision and stand ready to act if necessary.

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