Non-web users 'must not miss out'

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People who do not use the internet should not lose out on access to vital services and information provided by public sector bodies, says a watchdog.

The Welsh Consumer Council warned that 53% of all adults in Wales still do not have access to the internet.

Its survey found many of those people do not think being online was relevant to them or an important resource.

The consumer council called on public bodies to maintain face-to-face and telephone advice information systems.

It also wants bodies such as housing associations and organisations which work with particular groups of people to consider setting up a "time bank" for people share their computer skills in return for other services.

INTERNET INEQUALITY IN WALES Households in Wales with home internet connection: 47%Most likely be online at home: 25-34-year-olds, 59%Least likely to be online at home: over 65s, 19%Home internet connection: Cardiff and SE Wales 53%; valleys 40%; north Wales 43%Reasons for not using the internet: 'don't want to' 35%; 'don't have right equipment' 21%; don't need to' 19%Personal use of the internet: E-mail 80%; information/research 69%; buying/selling 46%; banking 37%; betting 4% <i>Welsh Consumer Council 2007</i>

In its latest report, the consumer council claims up to 1.2m people, or 53% of adults in Wales, do not access the internet at home, work or in public spaces like libraries.

The people least likely to use the internet were the ones most likely to face disadvantage in other parts of life, such as the elderly, disabled people and the less affluent, it claims.

Homes in the south Wales valleys are consistently less likely than in other regions to have an internet connection - 13% lower than Cardiff and south east Wales.

And people who are retired or not working are the least likely, 23%, to use the internet, compared to students, who are the most likely at 93%.

People aged 33-44 in Wales are almost three times more likely to have a home internet connection, 59%, compared to the over 65s, at 19%.

But the home internet connection rate for the older age group has risen to 19% from 12% in 2002, and just over half of these, 52%, are broadband connections.

Three in five people over 60 do not understand the term 'broadband'

However, Ofcom research has found 60% of those aged 65 plus still did not understand the term "broadband".

The result is that older people and other more vulnerable groups could miss out on essential information about services, claims the report.

Vivienne Sugar, chair of the Welsh Consumer Council, said: "We are concerned that people who don't use the internet could find it increasingly difficult to access information about certain essential services."

'Other formats'

"We need to make sure that when it comes to certain vital information, it's not just provided online but is also available in other formats.

"This particularly applies to information on services provided by the public sector, which is often essential and has to be accessible by everyone."

The report calls for resources to be focused on those people who would be likely to give the internet a try with the right support.

Help The Aged spokesman Iwan Roberts said: "A lot of older people are using the internet, they are computer literate and make use of e-mail as a means of communicating, but they are not seeing how it fits into their lives.

"It is a case of older people realising what they can do with the internet, but at the same time they still prefer that face-to-face contact, they still like going out, to the post office, for example."