One in eight North East residents have no basic digital skills

• The North East has second highest proportion of people with no basic digital skills
• Residents are missing out on benefits including increased savings and better personal wellbeing
• Number of people with full basic digital skills in the region has declined since last year

The latest Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index has revealed the North East has the second highest proportion of people with no basic digital skills in the UK.

In the North East, 12% of people have no basic digital skills, four percentage points higher than the UK average of 8%, and are missing out on benefits including increased savings and improvements to their personal wellbeing.

The research found that those with high digital capability can save nearly twice as often, and more than twice as much as those without basic digital skills – a trend that was observed across all income levels.

Those with basic digital skills also have better supported personal wellbeing, with UK respondents stating that being online helped them to better connect with friends and family (82%), better organise their life (76%) and save time (72%). More than half (53%) said it had helped them to find a job.

The Index, which measures both skills and behaviours of participants, showed that the proportion of people with basic digital skills in the region was 71%.

The research also found that 78% of people in the region would not be able to cope for more than three months following a financial shock.

Nick Williams, Lloyds Banking Group Ambassador for the North, said: “Basic digital skills are absolutely critical to ensuring that people, irrespective of background or income, have access to a choice of financial services and products. It can make a huge difference to personal wellbeing too, helping people to connect with friends and family, and find new work opportunities.

“Across the North East we’ve got colleagues trained to help people, businesses and charities to improve their financial health through better digital skills. It is through this focused support we can help to ensure more residents across the region have the opportunity to access digital training.”

The study measured five key basic digital skills including managing information, communicating online, transacting, problem solving and creating.

As part of its Helping Britain Prosper Plan, Lloyds Banking Group has pledged to provide face-to-face digital skills training (including online banking) for 1.8 million individuals, businesses and charities by 2020.