Mar. 06 2024
Source Page: Adult Education Budget: effective practice guideFound: Adult Education Budget: effective practice guide
Mar. 06 2024
Source Page: Adult Education Budget: effective practice guideFound: Adult Education Budget: effective practice guide
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help ensure that job centres work with Further Education colleges to support adult learners to gain skills and qualifications.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
For customers in England, we have ongoing collaboration at a national and local level with the Department for Education who fund adult education via the Adult Education Budget (AEB). Learning providers, many of which are Further Education colleges, deliver training to address customer skills needs in line with labour market demand. As skills is a devolved matter, similar discussions take place with stakeholders in the Scottish and Welsh Governments.
Local Jobcentre Plus partnership teams work directly with colleges and training providers in their area to ensure claimants have access to the right skills support. In England, this partnership is facilitated in part by the Department for Education’s employer representative body led Local Skills improvement Partnerships.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of trends in the level of funding of Adult and Community Education since 2010 on that sector; and whether she plans to restore funding to 2010 levels.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), the Multiply programme and Skills Bootcamps.
The AEB is worth £1.34 billion in 2023/24 and approximately 60% of the AEB is devolved to nine Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCA) and the Greater London Authority (GLA). These authorities are now responsible for the provision of AEB-funded adult education for their residents. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas.
In ESFA AEB areas, the department applied a 2.2% increase to the final earnings for all AEB formula-funded provision, excluding associated learner and learning support, in 2022/23 and 2023/24. The department also applied a 20% boost on top of earnings for all AEB formula-funded provision in six sector subject areas: Engineering, Manufacturing Technologies, Transport Operations and Maintenance, Building and Construction, ICT for Practitioners, and Mathematics and Statistics. Additionally, in 2024/25, as part of the AEB transition to the Adult Skills Fund, the department will introduce five new funding rates that will apply to the ESFA Adult Skills Fund with 78% of qualifications seeing a funding increase.
Prior to devolution, the Community Learning portion of the AEB amounted to approximately £230 million in 2018/19. The department does not collect data on what MCAs and the GLA currently spend on Community Learning.
In 2024/25, as part of the Adult Skills Fund, the term Tailored Learning brings together what was the AEB Community Learning, formula-funded AEB non-regulated learning, which was previously delivered through the adult skills, and new employer-facing innovative provision that is not qualification based.
The department is also providing up to £270 million directly to local areas in England to deliver innovative interventions to improve adult numeracy through the Multiply programme. The department is also building the evidence base on what works to improve adult numeracy, including through randomised control trials.
Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, with an offer of a job interview upon completion. This is supported by £550 million over the current Spending Review period as well as £170 million in grant funding to MCAs and local areas in 2024/25.
Spend by the department on further education is reported through publication of the Annual Report and Accounts. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) budget and (b) outturn spending were for (i) 16-19 learning, (ii) Adult Education Budget, (iii) Adult Skills Fund, (iv) free courses for jobs, (v) skills bootcamps, (vi) Multiply, (vii) Advanced Learner Loans, (viii) Advanced Learner Loans Bursary Fund, (ix) Apprenticeships and (x) all other programmes to support further education and adult skills in the financial year (A) 2022-23 and (B) 2023-24.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Sep. 13 2023
Source Page: Adult education devolutionFound: Adult education devolution
Sep. 13 2023
Source Page: Adult education budget devolutionFound: Adult education budget devolution
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support people who are on Universal Credit to access free adult education.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Universal Credit (UC) claimants are required to undertake activity to address skills needs if this will help them enter and retain employment or find better paid work. Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches engage with claimants to identify and address these needs through options ranging from the Department for Education’s Skills Bootcamps; careers advice from National Careers Service advisors, many of whom are co-located in Jobcentre offices or DWP’s successful (Sector Based Work Academy Programmes).
DWP’s Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) help employers who have immediate and future employment needs by providing short work focussed opportunities to fill local job vacancies. Through the adult education budget, Government funds the skills training that employers require and in return employers agree to offer work experience placements and a guaranteed offer of an interview for a live vacancy. Data for the financial years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 to date shows that, as of 28 January 2024, there were a total of 266,330 starts to a Sector-based Work Academy Programme. Final start figures for 2023/24 will be available early next financial year.
For claimants who need vocational and essential skills training (English/maths/digital), to support their work search goals, it was announced at Spring budget 2023 that the length of time UC claimants can undertake full time work-related training has been extended to up to 16 weeks. This means eligible claimants are able to access a wider range of courses, including those made available through the DfE Free Courses for Jobs initiative.
Additionally, local Jobcentre Plus partnership teams work directly with colleges and training providers in their area to ensure claimants have access to the right skills support. Jobcentre Plus partnership leads also participate in DfE’s employer representative body led Local Skills improvement Partnerships across England, which are articulating local employer skills needs for consideration by colleges and local training providers.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department has provided for adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy education in further education colleges in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Robert Halfon
This government is committed to supporting people to climb the ladder of opportunity towards better jobs, better wellbeing and better options for the future.
To enable this, the department recognises the importance of numeracy skills, both in work and everyday life. That is why the department launched Multiply in 2022, the government’s programme for improving adult numeracy. This is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is the government’s flagship fund for supporting people and places across the UK. Up to £270 million is available in England and up to £160 million in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to deliver innovative initiatives to tackle poor adult numeracy. The department is responsible for delivery of the Multiply programme in England.
Table of Multiply Programme Spend by Financial Year (England only):
2021/22 | 2022/23 |
£0.32 million | £51.88 million |
The spend figures for the 2023/24 financial year will be available in June 2024.
Delivery is now underway. Multiply provision is available in all 81 local areas in England that were allocated funding, with over 67,000 course starts since the programme began to August 2023. Local Areas determine Multiply provision, which will include, but not exclusive to, numeracy interventions delivered by further education colleges.
The Adult Education Budget (AEB) fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to Level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. This includes fully funded English and mathematics courses up to and including Level 2 for learners aged 19+.
In 2022/23, the government devolved approximately 60% of the AEB to nine Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority. These authorities are now responsible for the provision of AEB-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the AEB to providers. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas.
The attached file contains adult (19+) further education literacy and numeracy courses delivered through the AEB from the 2015/16 academic. Please note:
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will help provide free adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy education.
Answered by Robert Halfon
This government recognises the importance of English and mathematics skills, both in work and everyday life. Securing good levels of literacy and numeracy increases individual productivity, improves earnings and employment opportunities, supports economic growth and breaks cycles of intergenerational economic and social disadvantage.
Consequently, the department is continuing to support participation in English and mathematics provision through ‘essential skills entitlements’ which provide the opportunity of free study for adults who do not have essential literacy and numeracy skills up to and including Level 2.
This allows learners who have not previously attained a GCSE grade 4 or higher to undertake a range of courses fully-funded through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) including GCSEs, Functional Skills and other relevant qualifications from entry level to Level 2.
The department also supports training for adults in community settings through the AEB. Prioritised for disadvantaged learners, community learning can provide a 'stepping stone' for those adults who are not ready for formal accredited learning, or who would benefit from learning in a more informal way.
In addition, all apprentices, including adults, are funded to achieve up to a Level 2 in English and mathematics by the end of their apprenticeship. The department has increased the apprenticeship funding rate for English and mathematics by 54% from January to support apprentices to gain these vital skills, from £471 to £724.
The department has also launched the Multiply programme to improve adult numeracy. This is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is the government’s flagship fund for supporting people and places across the UK. Up to £270 million is directly available for local areas in England to deliver innovative interventions to improve adult numeracy. Delivery is now well underway. Multiply provision is available across the country, with over 67,000 course starts in England since the programme began to the end of August 2023.