Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the number of training providers in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) the UK; and if she will make a statement.

The quality and integrity of education and training provision is of paramount importance therefore we have stringent entry criteria for all of the department’s skills programmes to ensure training providers are capable and experienced. The department will take opportunities to streamline processes where we can, but the department will not compromise on the need to ensure learners and employers receive high quality education and training. Devolved Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority decide how to make best use of the Adult Education Budget (AEB) to meet the needs of their areas and decide which providers to contract with to deliver AEB-funded learning, and the processes used to select these providers.

The department frequently provides training providers with opportunities to access funding. Earlier this year, for instance, the department issued an invitation to tender for the delivery of adult education and training to learners aged 19 and over in non-devolved areas of England, including Gloucestershire.

Where there is a gap in provision in a specific location, due to poor quality of existing provision or an identified additional need for a particular type of provision, and this cannot be met by existing providers, the department will seek to bring in a new training provider that meets our robust standards. We are not aware of any specific gaps in provision in Gloucestershire that cannot be met by existing providers.