Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 5, Part 2 of the Government's Digital Strategy, published on 1 March 2017, whether additional funding will be provided to ensure that adults who lack core digital skills can access specified basic digital skills training free of charge.

The government is committing to ensuring that, where relevant learners get a place to study for a relevant digital skills qualification, it will be free of charge. This support is available for adults aged 19+ in England who are considered to lack basic digital skills. Funding will be via the £1.5 billion Adult Education Budget. This is currently allocated to providers who decide on actual provision according to the local labour market and learner demand and so levels of funding will vary from year to year but will be delivered within the limits of the budget of each provider.