Housing and Neighbourhoods Support for Digital Inclusion

Tender description

Digital inclusion is a key priority for Sheffield City Council’s Housing and Neighborhoods Service (H&NS) and a significantly emerging agenda for the Council as a whole. The Service seeks to increase the digital skills and motivation within its tenant communities to access services via digital channels. The aim of this is to enable Council tenants to access more cost effective and efficient services, improve quality of life and improve health and well-being. The benefits of being digitally included are well documented. These include improved employment opportunities, higher levels of educational attainment, the ability to access cheaper goods and products and to interact socially with friends and family online. The H&NS has been funding free weekly digital inclusion classes for local people for a number of years. These were originally in-person classes based at various venues – mainly local libraries – across the city. As the Covid Pandemic hit and restrictions introduced, the classes were moved online. These classes are designed to support people to get on-line and to undertake basic on-line transactions. They have also focused on increasing awareness of how to stay safe online and on increasing motivation to learn basic digital skills. The incumbent supplier has also provided Digital Champion training for a number of community organisations who work with our tenants, enabling them to increase digital inclusion within their own communities. Training for small groups of staff has also been provided, with the aim of giving community engagement staff the skills to digitally support the community organisations they work with. Ad-hoc 1:1 tailored support has also been delivered to a number of individuals – over the phone and online. The new contract we are seeking will cover a similar package of support. The contract would be based on a 4 year term. However, funding is only guaranteed for 1 year and so from year 2 onward will only be delivered on conf