Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on the devolution of skills to directly elected mayors and combined authorities.

The department will devolve the adult education budget to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority for 2019/20, subject to certain readiness conditions. We are working collaboratively with local areas to ensure people can gain the skills that meet both local and national needs and will be setting up Skills Advisory Panels to further inform local areas about the skills needs.