Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that clinically vulnerable learners are able to continue to access English for Speakers of Other Languages provision during the 2020-21 academic year during the covid-19 outbreak.

The government recognises that language skills are crucial to help people integrate into life in England, as well as to break down barriers to work and career progression. This is why we want to support all adults in England to secure the English language skills they need. We remain committed to the manifesto commitment to boost English language teaching to empower existing migrants and help promote integration into society.

We understand the challenges faced by further education providers due to the implications of the COVID-19 disruption and the issues that remote learning has for some learners. We want to get all further education learners, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students, back into education settings as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers and teachers. From Autumn 2020, all learners will return to a full high-quality education programme delivered by their college or post-16 learning provider. We have also introduced a change to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Adult Education Budget (AEB) Funding Rules for 2020-21 academic year, to enable providers to use their Learner Support funds to purchase IT devices for learners (aged 19+) and to help them meet learners’ IT connectivity costs, where these costs are a barrier to accessing or continuing in their training.

We fund adults through the £1.34 billion AEB for a range of courses and qualifications, including ESOL, so adults can secure the English language skills they need. Following the devolution of approximately half of the AEB, seven Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs), and the Greater London Authority (GLA), are now responsible for determining adult English language (and other) provision in their areas. Eligible adults resident in non-devolved areas of England are funded through the ESFA AEB and can access fully-funded ESOL if they are unemployed, looking for work and in receipt of certain benefits, or if they are employed and in receipt of a low-wage. All other ESFA AEB-eligible learners are co-funded with the Government contributing 50% of the course cost. ESFA allocations for 2020-21 have been confirmed, and payments will be made in line with the national profile, which has been confirmed in the ESFA AEB Funding and Performance Management Rules for 2020-21. We are looking carefully at further education funding, including ESOL, in preparation for the forthcoming Spending Review. Further information on the AEB funding rules for 2020-21 is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adult-education-budget-aeb-funding-rules-2020-to-2021.

We do not ring-fence a particular amount of the ESFA AEB budget for ESOL, so colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB allocation to meet the needs of their communities. They are responsible for planning, with local partners, which ESOL courses can be delivered locally. We want to support all adults in England to secure the English language skills they need. While we are keen to support the learners who are most in need, we also believe that those who decide to settle in the UK have a responsibility to invest their own time and resources into learning English.