Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding was allocated to English for Speakers of Other Languages in 2024-25; what is the budget for 2025-26; and what proportion in each case was allocated as grants to local authorities.

The below answer refers to funding made by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government only. The provisions described are in addition to what other departments may offer.

Councils receive a tariff of £5,900 per Homes for Ukraine arrival in their area to support guests to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into communities. Councils can use this funding flexibly which could include supporting guests to access English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision. However the department does not collect the full breakdown of expenditure per council on ESOL provision. Homes for Ukraine funding allocations are published on gov.uk here.

The department provided £11.5 million of funding for English language courses and employment support for up to 12,500 Ukrainians across the UK through the ‘STEP Ukraine’ programme. We are about to launch a follow-up ‘STEP’ programme of £4.2m (excl. VAT) for English language courses and employment support for Ukrainians and Hong Kong British Nationals. The aim is for the programme to reach 4,000 participants.

In the summer of 2025, the department has also allocated £3 million in grant funding to Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs) in England to strengthen the capacity of ESOL teachers and expand community-based English language support for eligible Afghans, Ukrainians, and Hong Kong BN(O)s until March 2026. This builds on the £1 million SMP ESOL capacity grant delivered in 2023–24, which trained over 350 teachers and supported more than 2,500 resettled learners

The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Welcome Programme, which is in its fifth year of funding, provides demand led funding to councils in England which can be accessed to cover the costs of English language courses. In 2024-25, the department allocated £4.5m to councils. Continued funding is available in 2025-26.