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Evaluation of the Public Internet Access Point Initiative

5 Value of the approach

This chapter summarises how well the programme has met its objective, identifies some of the key issues which have emerged and looks at the overall value for money of the programme.

5.1 Meeting Objectives

The initiative has helped to widen public access to the internet in areas with little or no previous facilities. But the range of barriers to effective access meant that we were only able to effectively gain internet access in 81% of the PIAPs we visited.

The Initiative seems to be better at targeting existing clients within the host venues than bringing in the wider public. This is a positive feature of the Initiative and one of its stated objectives. It is also an approach which is widely advocated in the digital inclusion sphere. Eight out of ten users had visited the venue before the PIAP was opened.

Business sector venues appear to be best able to attract users and raise awareness of the service. Business sector PIAPs tend to be more visible and are more likely to be located in places where people will use them. Business sector hosts are also perhaps better at marketing and publicising services.

In addition, more than two thirds of venues reported that their staff were making use of the PCs to access the Internet. Since computer use in certain SME sectors is low, this may be an unintended benefit of the Initiative.

The programme has succeeded in extending the available access of the Internet. And this has been particularly effective in remote rural areas and in disadvantaged areas largely in urban Scotland. One in six users in remote rural areas had no other access outside the home.

PIAPs have successfully targeted users in more disadvantaged urban areas, where a high proportion of users have no Internet access at home, and are not confident in using the Internet.

More than half of PIAP users have no home access; and it appears that this programme has been relatively successful in attracting users without home access.

But most users are not new to the Internet, and it appears that most users are not getting their first taste of the Internet through this programme. Whilst most users are getting the support they need, it is likely that many potential users would not feel confident enough to use the Internet at PIAPs without specific support and encouragement.

The programme has been very successful at targeting unemployed users, and in giving people the opportunity to look for jobs online. This is likely to be due to specific targeting of some PIAPs with New Deal clients, job clubs etc.

The programme has not succeeded in targeting older people. This may be because a higher proportion of older people are unaware of the benefits of the Internet and need a high level of support and encouragement to use it. The majority of PIAP users tend to be people who have some knowledge of, or interest in using the Internet. But PIAPs have had a positive impact on the small number of elderly people who have used them.

PIAP users have increased their level of use and tend to use the internet for a wider range of things than before. Using the Public Internet access points also appears to raise awareness if internet access more generally, with users more likely to find alternative places to access the Internet after using the PIAP. There is also some evidence that the rate of home internet access is increasing more quickly among PIAP users.

The majority of users report that their internet skills have improved since using the PIAP. People who were not confident at first and those using the service in disadvantaged areas were more likely to report improved levels of skills.

5.2 Value for Money

The costs of implementing the Public Internet Access Point programme has been a relatively modest 4.1 Million. By providing computers and access in existing locations, it has been able to lever in staffing and running costs, for a relatively modest capital outlay. Overall the unit cost of establishing each PIAP has been around 5,655. However this unit cost increases to 6,895 if we only consider the access points which are operating effectively.

One of the key advantages of this approach has been the flexibility that it allows in delivering services. The non-prescriptive approach has enabled people in remote rural areas to engage in e-commerce, whilst at the same time allowing unemployed people in deprived areas to look for jobs online.

Figure 5-1 summarises the overall impacts of the programme and also shows what each 1,000 of public funding has achieved. It is clear that the investment has led to a wide range of impacts, providing Internet Access to nearly 100,000 people who have no home access. That is equivalent to giving 24 people access for each 1,000 of public money.

Figure 5-1 Impacts of the PIAP Programme

Source: Hall Aitken

Each 1,000 of Scottish Executive investment has also resulted in:

• 24 people getting internet access in socially disadvantaged areas;
• ten people with no other Internet access getting online;
• 11 people using the Internet to look for jobs, and six unemployed people accessing the Internet;
• 36 people improving their Internet skills and 21 using the internet for things they could not before.

5.3 Deadweight, displacement and leakage

In evaluating the impact of public expenditure it is useful to look at:

• Deadweight - to what extent would the outcomes and impacts have occurred without the funding;
• Displacement - the extent to which the impacts have been additional rather than having been displaced from other projects or interventions; and
• Leakage - the extent to which the funding has resulted in impacts to groups and individuals who were not being targeted.

5.3.1 Deadweight

The level of deadweight is likely to be very limited, given that one of the key requirements in funding the access points was to fill gaps in existing provision; either in terms of geography or user groups.

Although some additional machines were provided within libraries which would already have free internet access through the 'Peoples Network' initiative; this was only where the applicant could demonstrate that demand out-stripped the existing capacity.

It is possible that some private sector hosts may have provided internet access for their customers without the Scottish Executive funding, but this access would not be available to the wider public. And as very few businesses are making money from providing internet access at low or no cost, most businesses who would provide the service would be likely to do so at a much higher cost.

So in terms of providing low cost access to the public, we would suggest that there is very little deadweight in the programme.

5.3.2 Displacement

In terms of displacement, there may again be some overlap between the provision through the People's Network and access points funded in the PIAP programme. But the number of areas where the catchments overlap is limited to a few urban areas. And where these overlaps occur, the PIAPs being funded are generally aimed at specific target groups who may be less likely to use the service in libraries.

The level of displacement from existing paying services may be more significant, but only around a fifth of users were aware of Internet cafes where they could get access, and these are likely to be in urban and more affluent areas. So the policy of targeting PIAPs towards areas with no public access, and socially disadvantaged areas would mean that displacement from existing paying services is probably minimal. People will tend to use the service that is most convenient to them, and where this is a private paying service, people who could afford to would be likely to continue to use it.

5.3.3 Leakage

Leakage describes impacts which fall outwith groups being targeted. And given the very broad objectives of extending public internet access, this is unlikely to be a factor in this programme. Although nearly half of the users have home internet access, the aim of the programme was to extend public Internet access by funding access in places where people go. People use the PIAPs because they are convenient and cheap; and therefore all users are likely to be benefiting from improved choice in internet access.

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