Proposed by Councillor Brian Kenny

Seconded by Councillor Jim Crabtree

This Council notes:

·  That a high proportion of Wirral residents are ‘digitally excluded’ i.e. do not have access to the internet;

·  That digital exclusion correlates closely to social and financial exclusion – those without IT skills find it harder to access education and employment opportunities, and miss out on opportunities to save money by accessing goods and services online;

·  That 30million people in the UK use the internet daily – but nearly 10 million never do, and

·  That Race Online 2012 is a national campaign to get everyone online by the end of the Olympic year (hence the ‘race’).

Council resolves to:

1.  Ask elected members to sign up as ‘Digital Champions’ to commit to helping others get online, which is a major part of this campaign – this can be done quickly at www.raceonline2012.org/giveanhour

2.  Ask the Acting Chief Executive to report to Cabinet at the earliest opportunity on developing a Digital Inclusion Plan for Wirral which would harness the resources of the Council and its partners; and

3.  Consider holding an event during Adult Learners Week (commencing the 14^th May) to highlight this issue and make practical suggestions as to how all Wirral residents can gain access to the internet with particular regard to finding out about education and employment opportunities.

Amendment submitted in accordance with Standing Order 7(2)

Proposed by Councillor Don McCubbin

Seconded by Councillor Mike Hornby

Add the following additional bullet points in before “Council resolves to”

·  Welcomes and supports the Coalition Government’s initiative appointing Martha Lane Fox as the UK Government’s Digital Champion in which capacity she founded the Race on Line 2012 campaign.

·  Notes the progress being made in Wirral bringing together One Stop Shops and Libraries into one information service. Along with the provision of free Wi Fi at all sites, and the introduction of an E Book service on the Library Web Site all possible as a result of two consecutive Conservative led budgets bringing an additional £340,000 of new investment into our Library Service.

Having applied the guillotine in accordance with Standing Order 7(8) the Council did not debate this matter.

The amendment was put and carried (36:29) (One abstention).

The substantive motion was put and carried (36:29) (One abstention).

Resolved (36:29) (One abstention) –

This Council notes:

·  That a high proportion of Wirral residents are ‘digitally excluded’ i.e. do not have access to the internet;

·  That digital exclusion correlates closely to social and financial exclusion – those without IT skills find it harder to access education and employment opportunities, and miss out on opportunities to save money by accessing goods and services online;

·  That 30million people in the UK use the internet daily – but nearly 10 million never do, and

·  That Race Online 2012 is a national campaign to get everyone online by the end of the Olympic year (hence the ‘race’).

·  Welcomes and supports the Coalition Government’s initiative appointing Martha Lane Fox as the UK Government’s Digital Champion in which capacity she founded the Race on Line 2012 campaign.

·  Notes the progress being made in Wirral bringing together One Stop Shops and Libraries into one information service. Along with the provision of free Wi Fi at all sites, and the introduction of an E Book service on the Library Web Site all possible as a result of two consecutive Conservative led budgets bringing an additional £340,000 of new investment into our Library Service.

Council resolves to:

(1)  Ask elected members to sign up as ‘Digital Champions’ to commit to helping others get online, which is a major part of this campaign – this can be done quickly at www.raceonline2012.org/giveanhour

(2)  Ask the Acting Chief Executive to report to Cabinet at the earliest opportunity on developing a Digital Inclusion Plan for Wirral which would harness the resources of the Council and its partners; and

(3)  Consider holding an event during Adult Learners Week (commencing the 14^th May) to highlight this issue and make practical suggestions as to how all Wirral residents can gain access to the internet with particular regard to finding out about education and employment opportunities.