Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people his Department has helped to learn English as a second language as a result of courses funded by his Department in each year since 2008-09.

From 2013/14 the Department has directly funded various innovative projects, each with different delivery models to engage isolated adults with poor or no English who had not previously accessed mainstream training. By March 2017, these projects will have supported over 39,800 isolated adults to learn English.

We do not hold figures on the average number of hours of tuition undertaken as training may vary dependent on need and in some instances includes online resources as well as guided learning.

Prior to 2013/14 the Department's funding to support delivery of English language was channelled via the Skills Funding Agency to Further Education colleges and other providers in areas facing significant integration challenges. The Department does not hold figures on the number of learners undertaking lessons or the average length of tuition.