Who is acting on digital exclusion?
A tracker of which Scottish councils have published a digital inclusion strategy, which bodies have a mandate to act and what they have delivered, and where accountability is missing. We update this as we find out more — tell us if you know something we've missed.
Methodology: We search council websites, Local Housing Strategies, corporate plans, and published strategy documents. "No visible strategy" means we searched and found nothing — not that nothing exists. If your council has something we've missed, tell us. This tracker is a live document.
Bodies with a mandate
These organisations have either a formal mandate or public funding to address digital exclusion in Scotland. This is what we know about what they have actually delivered.
Digital Inclusion Alliance Scotland
A multi-sector body with Scottish Government backing intended to coordinate digital inclusion activity across Scotland. The SCVO has described its early work as a "talking shop" with no clear lines of accountability. No published action plan, delivery framework, or outcome metrics have been identified.
SCVO on the Digital Inclusion Alliance →COSLA Digital Office
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities hosts a Digital Office to support collaboration across councils on digital priorities, including inclusion and service design. Published outputs on digital inclusion specifically are limited — it is primarily a coordination and advisory function rather than a delivery body.
COSLA Digital Office →Scottish Government — digital inclusion
The Scottish Government declared a housing emergency in 2024. Connecting Scotland — its flagship digital inclusion programme — has had no updated national strategy and no published delivery plan since its Covid-era phase. The SCVO has described digital inclusion work in Scotland as "under-resourced, undervalued, and increasingly stretched." No successor programme has been announced.
Scottish Government: digital policy →Ofcom
Ofcom has the power to require ISPs to offer social tariffs and to monitor take-up. Only 1 in 12 eligible households currently use the social tariff they are entitled to, and 55% of people on benefits have never heard of them. Ofcom has published data on this but has not used regulatory powers to mandate active promotion by providers.
Ofcom: social tariffs →Scottish Housing Regulator
The Scottish Housing Regulator oversees RSLs and local council housing. It does not currently require RSLs to report on digital inclusion or tenant connectivity as part of regulatory performance reporting — meaning the scale of digital exclusion among social housing tenants remains largely unmeasured at a national level.
Scottish Housing Regulator →The 32 Scottish councils
Scotland has 32 local authorities. Each has responsibility for housing, community development, and local services — and each could act on digital exclusion within its area. Below is what we have verified so far.
| Council | Status | Notes | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen City | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Aberdeenshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Angus | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Argyll and Bute | Referenced in plan | GigaPlus Argyll: community-owned infrastructure serving Colonsay, Mull, Iona, Jura and other Inner Hebrides islands, developed with Community Broadband Scotland funding. Infrastructure-focused — no standalone digital exclusion strategy found. Source → | June 2026 |
| Clackmannanshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Dumfries and Galloway | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Dundee City | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| East Ayrshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| East Dunbartonshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| East Lothian | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| East Renfrewshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| City of Edinburgh | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Falkirk | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Fife | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Glasgow City | Strategy published | Scotland's first Digital Housing Strategy 2022–2028. Evidence base found 65% of social rented households do not use home broadband. Backed by 32 RSLs covering 75% of stock. No standalone evaluation published yet. Source → | June 2026 |
| Highland | Referenced in plan | Highland Council area has active community broadband pilots supported by HIE and Community Broadband Scotland, including in Applecross. Highland Community Broadband operates as a community-focused provider in the area. No standalone council digital inclusion strategy identified. Source → | June 2026 |
| Inverclyde | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Midlothian | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Moray | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | Not yet verified | Western Isles — community broadband models exist via HIE. | — |
| North Ayrshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| North Lanarkshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Orkney Islands | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Perth and Kinross | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Renfrewshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Scottish Borders | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Shetland Islands | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| South Ayrshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| South Lanarkshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| Stirling | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| West Dunbartonshire | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
| West Lothian | Not yet verified | Help us find out — contact WIRES | — |
Help us complete this tracker
31 councils still need verification
If you live or work in any of the unverified council areas, you can help. Check your council's website for a digital strategy, digital inclusion plan, or any reference to digital access in its Local Housing Strategy or corporate plan. Then tell us what you find — including a link if there is one.
If your council has no plan, that itself is worth recording. A formal absence is accountability information.
Accountability requires attention
Join WIRES and help us track what councils and bodies are actually doing — not just what they say.