Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the claw back provisions announced in the Education & Skills Funding Agency guidance entitled ESFA 2020 to 2021 end of year reconciliation for adult education budget (AEB) and advanced learner loans bursary (ALLB) grant funded providers, updated on 7 June 2021, for (a) vocational and (b) other courses undertaken in alternative provision settings unable to be delivered in a non-online setting during the covid-19 outbreak.

We are lowering the reconciliation threshold for the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) grant funded adult education budget (AEB) adult skills, including non-formula funded community learning and 19-24 traineeships, and Advanced Learner Loan Bursary (ALLB) fund providers for the 2020-21 academic year, from 97% and 100% respectively, to 90%.

Our primary aim is to support providers to continue to deliver as much quality provision as possible, including above the 90% threshold, whether that be face-to-face where permitted, online or otherwise remotely, and including through subcontracting (for AEB-funded provision only) where that is in line with our subcontracting conditions set out in the rules and contracts.

We acknowledge the situation is still difficult for providers but equally we know that many providers have been able to deliver very successfully remotely during lockdown and the return to face-to-face learning should enhance further providers’ ability to deliver.

We are monitoring the situation carefully and, in particular, if there are providers that may need further support.