While broadband take-up among those connected to the internet at home is rising sharply, the rate of increase in households with any sort of internet connection has slowed.
A third of adults have never used the internet and over half of non-users - 17 per cent of adults in the UK - say they are not likely to do so, official surveys show.
John Fisher, chief executive of Citizens Online, a charity devoted to internet access, said: "This is a big problem for government, for business and for individuals.
"Promoting digital inclusion used to be the responsibility of the e-envoy. But it is not part of the job of the government's new chief information officer and we're no longer clear who is responsible."
His views were echoed by Malcolm Taylor, e-government manager for Citizens Advice, the advice bureaux network. He said projects to encourage online access appeared to be going nowhere: "Ministers talk about the digitally excluded, but there seems to be a lack of commitment."
Mr Fisher said: "Central and local government will not get the gains it is seeking in efficiency and economy unless a significantly higher proportion of households are online.
"Business is increasingly relying on internet sales, which means the excluded lose out on discounts and promotions. An increasing proportion of jobs require at least basic skills, which means individuals who are not used to the internet lose out and business can't recruit them. Employers are already starting to complain about recruitment difficulties in these areas."
The Cabinet Office said two ministers were responsible for digital inclusion: Alun Michael at the Department of Trade and Industryand Jim Fitzpatrick, junior minister for local e-government. But Mr Fisher said the issue seemed "to have fallen between the cracks".
The social exclusion unit is to produce a report and the DTIsaid Mr Michael was tackling the matter.
But Mr Taylor said that even in the US, household internet access was levelling out at something over 70 per cent. "Most people believe that many of the remaining 30 per cent will never access the internet. Half don't want to and the other half have learning or other difficulties that will prevent them."
Autor: Nicholas Timmins
Quelle: Financial Times, 25.10.2005
