Digital inclusion in Oldham has moved from policy ambition to on-the-ground delivery, with community sessions already taking place under the council’s new GOW (Get Oldham Working) Digital programme. Launched following the announcement that £266,084 had been secured from the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, the initiative aims to improve access to devices, skills and confidence for residents across the borough. However, conversations with a frontline delivery partner (GOW) and councillors suggest that while early delivery is real, questions remain about sustainability, scrutiny and how success will ultimately be measured.
What Oldham Council says GOW Digital will deliver
According to Oldham Council’s press release, GOW Digital is designed to address digital exclusion at a time when access to online services is increasingly essential for employment, education, health and public services. The programme includes two Digital Inclusion Hubs based at Get Oldham Working offices (FCHO Building, 22 Union Street, Oldham OL1 1BE, and Level 8, GOW Spindles Management Suite, Oldham OL1 1HD), alongside a Mobile Digital Hub travelling to community venues across the borough. Oldham Council states that more than 400 laptops will be issued to participants who complete the agreed learning activity, while 30 tablets will be provided to trained ‘Digital Champions’ who will volunteer within computer-based sessions and community delivery. Digital Café drop-in sessions are intended to provide informal support, helping residents access online services and improve employability. This reflects the increasing reliance on digital platforms for job searching, applications and workplace tasks, linking digital access directly to employment opportunities.
In announcing the programme, councillors emphasised that the initiative is intended to build confidence and independence, not simply distribute devices, and framed the work as part of a wider commitment to digital inclusion and national digital skills frameworks.
Community delivery: what is happening on the ground
One community organisation named as a delivery venue, Support and Action Women’s Network (SAWN), confirmed, when approached via email, that the project is already underway. SAWN reported that it has hosted an initial session involving nine women and is currently running a second round with 25 participants, bringing total participation to 34 women so far. The organisation stated that its role includes providing learners with interpreters and space, ensuring sessions are accessible to the women it supports. Delivery has been tailored to participants’ needs, particularly around language, with interpreters provided to support understanding and engagement.
The organisation identified the main digital barriers faced by participants as lack of access to digital tools, limited understanding of how to use online systems, and language barriers. Some participants did not have an email address, which directly affected their ability to respond to employers, access benefits or interact with online services.
Access is improving, but support is short-term
The council’s press release presents GOW Digital as a programme with long-term impact. However, SAWN’s response highlights a gap between aspiration and current delivery. While sessions are providing immediate access to devices and skills, SAWN described the programme support as short-term. From SAWN’s perspective, meaningful success would require long-term support and the ongoing provision of digital equipment. The organisation also pointed to wider structural constraints, including limited digital and human resources, which could limit sustained engagement once initial workshops end.
This contrast does not undermine the existence of the programme, but it does highlight a gap between the council’s long-term ambitions and the short-term nature of delivery described by community partners. Instead, it illustrates the challenge of translating short-term funding into lasting digital inclusion, particularly for groups facing multiple barriers.
Community tailoring is essential to inclusion
SAWN’s experience demonstrates that digital inclusion requires more than devices and generic training. Language support and culturally appropriate delivery were essential to enabling participation. Interpreters were required throughout sessions, highlighting additional resource needs not detailed in the council’s announcement. While the press release refers to a community-led approach, it does not specify how such tailoring would be achieved in practice. SAWN’s account provides insight into the practical realities of delivery, where community organisations absorb responsibility for accessibility and inclusion on the ground.
SAWN reported no safeguarding concerns arising from delivery of the training, but emphasised that continuity of digital services would be necessary to sustain confidence beyond initial sessions.
Scrutiny, oversight and unanswered questions
Councillors have confirmed to us that the funding was formally accepted on 15 December, with a cabinet decision report and spending breakdown available through council documentation. However, they also confirmed that the decision was not scrutinised at the time, due to delivery time constraints and the absence of specific concerns raised. This means formal scrutiny of the programme is likely to take place after delivery has begun, rather than before implementation. Council representatives stated that eligibility criteria for device distribution had not been seen by all councillors, but that such information could be requested through scrutiny or audit processes. They also noted that value for money had not yet been assessed and would be best examined through a scrutiny report once delivery data is available.
Monitoring arrangements described include internal management oversight, section 151 officer responsibility, internal audit processes and external audit oversight where necessary. While these mechanisms exist, councillors indicated that public-facing evaluation and scrutiny had yet to take place.
Wider digital inclusion and offline access needed
Since the launch of GOW Digital, some councillors have raised broader concerns about access to council services for residents who remain offline. A formal request has been made for scrutiny of how offline access to council services and the job market is managed, including data on the number of residents without reliable internet access, alternative service provision, staffing and benchmarking. This request does not dispute the need for the services of GOW Digital or the funding behind it. Instead, it highlights a parallel policy concern: that digital inclusion initiatives must sit alongside robust offline access for residents who cannot, or choose not to, engage digitally.
The coexistence of these two pathways, digital inclusion programmes and the need for continuing availability of offline access, reflects the complexity of service delivery in a borough with high levels of digital exclusion.
What we know so far
Based on the available material, several points are clear. Digital training has begun, the funding is confirmed and formally accepted, with documented cabinet approval, and community sessions already taking place. Participating residents are receiving tailored support, but early evidence suggests that delivery, scrutiny, and long-term impact remain uncertain.
The success of the programme may ultimately depend not only on the number of laptops distributed or sessions delivered, but on whether short-term interventions translate into sustained digital engagement.
Addressing digital exclusion Oldham style
GOW Digital represents a tangible attempt by Oldham Council to address digital exclusion through targeted funding, community delivery and device access. Evidence from SAWN shows that residents are engaging and benefiting from tailored support. At the same time, responses from community partners and councillors indicate that the programme’s long-term impact, governance and evaluation remain open questions.
As delivery continues, with the programme understood to be time-limited, scrutiny of outcomes, sustainability and accessibility, both online and offline, will be central to determining whether GOW Digital achieves the inclusive transformation it sets out to deliver.
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