Brown promises £300m to get people online

Broadband will be available to all, according to a new plan proposed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the Labour party conference.

Anywhere from 100 to 700 vouchers will be handed out to poor families to spend on computer equipment, broadband connections and technical advice.

"It is now clear that pupils without internet access are at a disadvantage to their peers. Home access is increasingly becoming an essential part of a good education and having a computer with internet access should be seen as equally essential as having a school bag, a uniform or a pen and paper," explained Jim Knight, the minister of state for schools and learners.

But earlier this year, the Labour government laid out a three-year, 30 million plan to deliver internet connections to disadvantaged students. That previously allotted 30 million for low income families has already been used, according to a spokesperson from the department of children, schools and families (DCSF).

The DCSF spokesperson said that the basis of the 300m proposal is similar but not an extension of the 30m. The range of families targeted with the new proposal is much larger.

The goal is for England to be one of the first countries where children ages 5-19 can log onto the internet at home by 2011.