Independent auditors say the Scottish Government and COSLA have yet to set out a coherent action plan or clear ownership for tackling digital exclusion, despite it affecting more than a million people in Scotland.
Audit Scotland's review of digital exclusion work found no single, clearly owned action plan across the Scottish Government and COSLA, despite estimates that more than a million people in Scotland lack meaningful digital access and around one in six adults lack the digital skills for everyday life.
This is not a story about a single missed target. It is a story about accountability: infrastructure spending like R100 addresses one part of the problem, but skills, devices, and affordable connections need the same clarity of ownership that roads and water do.
Read the background on why we treat this as an infrastructure issue, not a charity appeal, on Why it matters.
The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee is taking public evidence on broadband and mobile coverage in rural and island Scotland. Submissions are a direct way to get lived experience in front of policymakers.
In 2021, the Scottish Government pledged £200m to get 300,000 households online by 2026. That deadline has now passed. The money was never spent. There is still no strategy, no plan, and no named person responsible.
Scotland's £697m Reaching 100% programme has now connected more than 100,000 premises, though some north-of-Scotland contract areas are reportedly at risk of running past their original dates.
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