CCW Conference 2021: Anoush Simon, University of Aberystwyth
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Universal Credit and Digital Inclusion in Public Libraries This paper, researched and written in collaboration with Dr Alyson Tyler, focuses on digital inclusion and public libraries in Wales, partly from the perspective of recent developments in Universal Credit. It highlights some of the findings from a recent scoping study into the impact of Universal Credit on public library services and user needs, and discusses how public libraries are adapting to personal, social and technical changes and what near-future trends might mean for public library services.
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CCW Conference 2021: Anoush Simon, University of Aberystwyth
- 1. Universal Credit and Public Libraries in Wales A scoping study into digital exclusion and digital by default. Dr Anoush Simon (Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth University), Dr Alyson Tyler (Independent Researcher)
- 2. Project background and context • Awareness of the development of Universal Credit and potential issues around digital literacy and digital inclusion – and the potential role and impact on public libraries in Wales • Reporting on research undertaken in 2019 • Desk research, survey of public library managers in Wales, selected stakeholder interviews • Lockdown has had an impact on public libraries, access to digital service, and the uptake of Universal Credit
- 3. Universal Credit • Proposed in 2010 for completion in 2017, to replace six key welfare benefits with one single payment • Rollout delayed and still not complete – planned now for 2024 • Aligns with and pushes UK government ‘digital by default’ agenda • not devolved but impacts on parts of government that are devolved • Many existing claimants remain on ‘legacy’ benefits – mostly new claimants on UC • Tend to fit a specific demographic (digitally confident/competent)
- 4. • Various problems and critiques • Technical issues, transactional and punitive nature, complex application process, expectations on claimants (e.g. around job applications) • Underlying expectations and assumptions around access, knowledge, skill and connectivity of users • ‘rollout’ has been slower that expected, 30-40% by 2019 • “Universal Credit has built a digital barrier that effectively obstructs many individuals’ access to their entitlements.” (Alston, 2018, p.8)
- 5. Libraries and technology • Peoples’ Network legacy – access and training – gave many people their first experience of computers or the internet • Government / other agencies reference and refer to the PL • Universal Job Match 2012 led to expectations of impact for UC • Changes in technology – wireless, mobile devices, all change patterns of use and need… • Changes in demand for and type of training and support – including, specialist, ad hoc and intensive one to one support • Digital inclusion and digital literacy
- 6. Results: the value of the library • “The library has become a 'life-line' to many, particularly the people who have fallen through the net. People with no literacy or digital skills have been supported in the library, enabling them to be able to claim benefits and to sustain their UC claim. Many users have told us without the library they would have been sanctioned.” • “Very time intensive supporting people as they moved on to the system.” • “Queries have increased again where they were showing a drop, people are now asking staff for more help on a ad hoc basis which is a drain on staff resource” • “Increased number of people that cannot use a computer and can't wait for a training session on it as need to apply for their benefits now.”
- 7. Preparation and impact • “The impact of Universal Jobmatch was far more significant. There has been very little increased impact as a result of UC.” • “Less impact than expected. Some claimants have come to the library for support to create their accounts but most of this support is delivered at the Jobcentre. They use library facilities to maintain their journals and to look for work online - we cannot quantify this use.” • “We have seen limited evidence that the rollout of Universal Credit has had a significant impact on the library service. Staff have not reported significant issues, neither with residents being able to access ICT equipment or requiring support to use the site. There has been no increase in percentage of use of ICT equipment since the introduction of Universal Credit.”
- 8. Issues arising • Complexity of needs highlighted as part of a wider digital-social inclusion/exclusion story: • “… enquiries from people with poor ICT skills do take a long time. Staff provide basic ICT assistance and will signpost customers onto other organisations if more help is needed.” • “We have experienced people with no digital skills, very low basic skills, people with mental health problems and disabilities (some people with undiagnosed problems) all being supported in the library, as they have anxiety and fear of going to the job-centre or any other formal service.” • “The ability of libraries to be the last man standing for many service users is undisputed in our area but the level of investment is so low it creates a real problem for us. The computers are getting older, the facilities are getting older and staff are struggling to keep up with all the demands on their time.”
- 9. After lockdown • UC claims doubled – probably primarily among digitally confident users, but legacy benefits transition will happen • Most public libraries wholly or partially closed during 2020 but responded to their communities in a variety of ways including click + collect and access to PCs (essential tasks - jobs, CVs, etc.)(Lorensbergs, 2020) • Significant increase in use of ebooks/online resources • Libraries declared essential services following first lockdown • Other research and findings…
- 10. Summary report and references For project details and data: UC-public-libraries-Wales-Dec2019.pdf - Google Drive Contact: ads@aber.ac.uk Lorensbergs/Netloan research: Public Library 2020 survey results (lorensbergs.co.uk) Public Library Summer Poll 2020 results (lorensbergs.co.uk)
Editor's Notes
- Hi, I’m Anoush Simon from DIS and I’m going to be report on a research project that looked at the impact of UC on public libraries in Wales. It was undertaken with support from Aberystwyth University and in conjunction with Dr Alyson Tyler, who can’t be here today but was instrumental in the development and carrying out of the project.
- Universal credit aimed to modernise the benefits system, rolling 6 key benefits including JSA and housing benefit into a single benefit, applied for, processed and managed, entirely online. The key point about it from a PL and ‘digital inclusion’ point of view, is that it was planned and implemented, from inception, as a ‘digital by default’ service, that is all aspects of the application process including receipt of benefits would be carried out online – which did raise questions about the readiness of some claimants to use the new system, around digital literacy as well as more general issues of literacy and basic skills which we know are a challenge for some individuals and communities.. This led us to develop and undertake a small scoping project in 2019 that looked specifically at the impact of UC rollout on public libraries in Wales. A survey of public library managers had an 80% response rate and this was complemented by desk based research and a small number of stakeholder interviews. We asked about developments in computer provision and training as well as their experience of the impact of UC on their service. We did not talk to library users or frontline staff (because of the scale of the project) but there has been other comparable work undertaken for example by CILIP with the Child Poverty Action Group, to put our findings in wider context. This project was undertaken during 2019, so the data reported on here was gathered ahead of the pandemic and lockdown, but we know that this has had a considerable impact on jobs, support systems and of course libraries, so I’ll return to those contexts at the end of the presentation.
- UC as a modernised benefit, was proposed in 2010, started in a trial manner in 2013 in some local authorities, and was intended to be complete by 2017. However it has been beset by a series of setbacks and hitches which means that, before lockdown, rollout was hovering at around 30-40%. Over 2020 the amount of people of UC increased significantly, for obvious reasons which we’ll touch on later. The new date for completion of the switchover is 2024, which is important when we come to consider the impact on local communities and public libraries. Most existing claimants have remained on are now called legacy benefits (i.e. the old, distinct payments) and new claimants went onto UC, At this point, these people tended to be more what we might called ‘digital natives’, confident and competent in the online environment. It’s also worth pointing out that although this is a UK govt policy, it impacts at the local government and community level, which of course include the PL response. So the different nations of the UK have responded and been impacted in different ways – our focus has been very much on the situation in Wales although the awareness of the wider context is still of interest.
- As I’ve said, it’s been critiqued, and been in the news quite a bit for various reasons, including technical issues and delays but also for it’s transactional and possibly punitive nature. All of these issues led the UN rapporteur on poverty, quoted here, to refer to it as Universal Discredit.
- The development of the PN placed libraries re the hear of the internet revolution in the early 2000s. It also created an expectation that libraries can and will support people around issues of access to technology and digital literacy and there were many examples in the survey data of individuals being referenced to the library by other agencies in the expectation that they could be helped – often with quite complex needs and issues (e.g. around financial management or mental health). For example public libraries had little warning about the implementation of UJM in 2012, which led to a significant influx of people to the public library, many of whom had little or no meaningful experience of computers/ the internet, under considerable levels of stress because they risked the sanction of reduced benefits. There were concerns of a similar pattern around UC, although in the event because of the very slow and partial roll-out of UC, there has been – overall but not uniformly - less demand on public library staff than initially anticipated. But this is all taking place in the context of a rapidly changing digital and skills environment which I’ll refer back to shortly.
- The survey results present a very and localised mixed picture around impact of UC on the library service and on users.– LAs have had different experiences depending on population, location and demographic. However in some key areas of multiple deprivation particularly, the library service has been essential and it proved important that lib staff had been prepared for the rollout of UC It is clear from the survey comments here, that some users have struggled and found the support and access to tech through the library to be invaluable.
- The survey also showed that the impact on libraries has been varied. Some library managers reported a low level, or at least manageable impact of enquires around UC. When it was planned, the original timetable for rollout was four years– so libraries were expecting a high level of demand for support in this timeframe. It is possible the various delays and partial rollout has enabled libraries to absorb some the impact over time. Points to be aware of: -support available at JC and crucially, the CAB received funding to help and support claimants– so the influx has not always been at the level experienced by the introduction of UJM. It was noted that these agencies are still happy to refer people to the PL though, as a source of help and support – often for quite complex issues, which does impact on staff time, expertise and resources. -use of tech has changed significantly in this time period. We have seen a jump in use of smartphones, tablets and other wireless devices, and a general (but not uniform) reduction in the number of static computer terminals in libraries -in 2019, rollout was only at between 30-40%. The majority of UC claimants so far are new, possibly younger, more digitally confident– whereas the impact when most people still on legacy benefit move over is as yet unclear.
- What was clear though, was the complex nature of many people’s needs around the concept of digital and indeed social inclusion. As demonstrated by these comments from library managers, the research has actually highlighted the more complicated challenges that we face as a society, and what public libraries can offer in this context. No other public service, is so socially universal in its offer – and this is what makes it so valuable as a service and a resource into the future. _________________
- I would argue that our findings indicate that perhaps the focus on UC was too narrow, and actually that points us towards bigger issues around basic skills, literacy and digital literacy, and libraries roles in helping to overcome this in their local communities. The pandemic and the lockdown was unprecedented, for governments as well as individuals, but the impact of lockdown challenged the assumptions that were made, about people’s levels of access to technology, their skills and connectivity - the impact on school children is the big example here. We also know and are learning more about how libraries responded to and supported their communities during the pandemic. And this to me is the issue, and underlines why there is a crucial role (or several roles) that PL play in their communities – the complicated, individual, often ad hoc and unexpected needs of people – fellow citizens - in the challenging times in which we live.