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 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme, worth up to £5,000 towards a faster connection, closes to new applications on 20 November 2026. In Aberdeenshire alone, 2,089 premises are still eligible and have not used it.
WIRES has sent its submission to the Competition and Markets Authority's inquiry into BT's purchase of TalkTalk, asking that any approval protects prices, guarantees access to a social tariff and recognises the greater effect in rural Scotland. The full text is here. Comments closed on 9 October; the CMA reports by 19 October.
We read the published digital strategies of Scotland's 32 councils. Of the 24 we could verify, only Glasgow has a standalone strategy on digital exclusion. In 22, it is a theme inside a plan about the council's own services. Eight we couldn't confirm.
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