Deprived homes to go online

Tower block homes will be among those to get computers

Deprived communities in England are to be wired up to the internet in a pilot project to assess how home access to the web and e-mail can transform lives.

The £10m Wired Communities scheme will see disadvantaged estates, tower blocks and rural areas go online, linking people to community websites with access to government, job, health and education services.

The government is aiming to forge partnerships with the private sector to operate the project, and hopes new users will find a range of ways to enhance their lives using the technology.

It says, for example, that a new mother will be able to access health services such as NHS Direct and parenting websites, and children will have online access to revision and homework sites.

Pensioners could do their shopping online

It also suggests that an unemployed father could join an internet job club, while elderly people could take advantage of online shopping, cutting out the burden of heavy shopping bags.

The scheme, which will see computers installed in people's homes as well as communal centres, is also designed to help community members such as community workers and teachers.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said it had not yet been decided whether computers would be installed free, or whether people would be asked to pay a low fee for leasing them.

'Tremendous power'

Minister for Learning and Technology, Michael Wills, announced the initiative on Monday at the Local Government Association's Tomorrow's Socially Excluded conference.

He said only 18% of people in low socio-economic groups had a computer at home, compared with 65% of those in higher social groups, and that the project would help bridge the "digital divide".

"We are committed to providing universal access to the internet. New technology has tremendous power to connect people to opportunities in education, employment and with one another," he said.

"This project will reveal how new technology might help us to re-connect people who have felt cut off from the possibilities of the new emerging technologies."

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Smith, said the project would "empower" people by giving them access to learning and job opportunities.

"It will also be a gateway to the vast information sources that many of us already take for granted in the information age."

The pilot scheme will operate in between about six and 10 different areas of the country, which have not yet been chosen. It is expected to start at the end of next year.