Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Education on the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for the Adult Skills Fund on the number of people entering employment.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Adult Skills Funding (ASF) supports people with access to local skills training and provision, helping remove skills barriers to work, which in turn both secures and helps people progress in work. Work Coaches are able to help people access a broad range of local skills provision funded via the Adult Skills funding including; Skills Bootcamps, vocational and essential English, maths, digital skills training, ESOL, as well as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). Jobcentres also work closely with local stakeholders.
The Department for Work and Pensions works closely with the Department for Education given our collective ambition to better align delivery of skills and employment support with both individual need and national and local labour market demand.
As the majority of ASF is devolved to strategic authorities they are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents and allocation of the ASF to learning providers.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for the Adult Skills Fund in (i) devolved and (ii) non-devolved areas in the 2025-26 (a) financial and (b) academic years.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year to ensure that adult learners can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work.
As of August 2025, the department will have devolved 68% of the ASF to mayoral strategic authorities, who are responsible for adult skills provision in their areas. These authorities have autonomy in deciding how to use their funding and are responsible for the allocation of the ASF to learning providers. The department is responsible for managing non-devolved ASF.
In non-devolved areas, adults earning less than £25,000 annual gross salary are eligible for full funding through the ASF. This directly supports social mobility by enabling those moving from unemployment to progress in work. The ASF also funds Learner Support and Learning Support which enables learning providers to help learners facing specific financial hardship, learning difficulties and/or disabilities to overcome barriers which prevent them from taking part in learning.
The department’s allocation methodology for the 2025/26 academic year recognises priority courses, as well as providers with a strong track record of delivering above their allocations and providing for more learners. As a result, there will be a significant number of providers who will see their allocations increase in the 2025/26 academic year.
The department considered the impact of all its funding decisions and, as part of managing the ASF in non-devolved areas, the department considers the impacts of any previous changes when making policy decisions.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for the Adult Skills Fund on the ability of (a) vulnerable learners and (b) people in receipt of benefits to take part in training to help increase their employability.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year to ensure that adult learners can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work.
As of August 2025, the department will have devolved 68% of the ASF to mayoral strategic authorities, who are responsible for adult skills provision in their areas. These authorities have autonomy in deciding how to use their funding and are responsible for the allocation of the ASF to learning providers. The department is responsible for managing non-devolved ASF.
In non-devolved areas, adults earning less than £25,000 annual gross salary are eligible for full funding through the ASF. This directly supports social mobility by enabling those moving from unemployment to progress in work. The ASF also funds Learner Support and Learning Support which enables learning providers to help learners facing specific financial hardship, learning difficulties and/or disabilities to overcome barriers which prevent them from taking part in learning.
The department’s allocation methodology for the 2025/26 academic year recognises priority courses, as well as providers with a strong track record of delivering above their allocations and providing for more learners. As a result, there will be a significant number of providers who will see their allocations increase in the 2025/26 academic year.
The department considered the impact of all its funding decisions and, as part of managing the ASF in non-devolved areas, the department considers the impacts of any previous changes when making policy decisions.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reductions to the Adult Skills Fund on the availability of (a) adult education courses and (b) free courses for jobs.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year to ensure that adult learners can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work.
As of August 2025, the department will have devolved 68% of the ASF to mayoral strategic authorities, who are responsible for adult skills provision in their areas. These authorities have autonomy in deciding how to use their funding and are responsible for the allocation of the ASF to learning providers. The department is responsible for managing non-devolved ASF.
In non-devolved areas, adults earning less than £25,000 annual gross salary are eligible for full funding through the ASF. This directly supports social mobility by enabling those moving from unemployment to progress in work. The ASF also funds Learner Support and Learning Support which enables learning providers to help learners facing specific financial hardship, learning difficulties and/or disabilities to overcome barriers which prevent them from taking part in learning.
The department’s allocation methodology for the 2025/26 academic year recognises priority courses, as well as providers with a strong track record of delivering above their allocations and providing for more learners. As a result, there will be a significant number of providers who will see their allocations increase in the 2025/26 academic year.
The department considered the impact of all its funding decisions and, as part of managing the ASF in non-devolved areas, the department considers the impacts of any previous changes when making policy decisions.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has undertaken an impact assessment in relation to changes to the level of funding for the Adult Skills Fund.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year to ensure that adult learners can access the education and training they need to get into employment or progress in work.
As of August 2025, the department will have devolved 68% of the ASF to mayoral strategic authorities, who are responsible for adult skills provision in their areas. These authorities have autonomy in deciding how to use their funding and are responsible for the allocation of the ASF to learning providers. The department is responsible for managing non-devolved ASF.
In non-devolved areas, adults earning less than £25,000 annual gross salary are eligible for full funding through the ASF. This directly supports social mobility by enabling those moving from unemployment to progress in work. The ASF also funds Learner Support and Learning Support which enables learning providers to help learners facing specific financial hardship, learning difficulties and/or disabilities to overcome barriers which prevent them from taking part in learning.
The department’s allocation methodology for the 2025/26 academic year recognises priority courses, as well as providers with a strong track record of delivering above their allocations and providing for more learners. As a result, there will be a significant number of providers who will see their allocations increase in the 2025/26 academic year.
The department considered the impact of all its funding decisions and, as part of managing the ASF in non-devolved areas, the department considers the impacts of any previous changes when making policy decisions.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 18 September 2023 to Question 199977 on T-levels: Expenditure and to the Answer of 23 March 2025 to Question 35993 on T-levels: Finance, how her Department has reallocated the amount of money underspent on the T Level programme.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As per the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, the usual practice is for any underspends in overall departmental budgets, including the T level programme, by the end of the financial year to be returned to HM Treasury. However, throughout each financial year, the department reviews emerging forecasts against the departmental budgets originally set, as well as reviewing any pressures across the department. Unspent funding is then reallocated to wider education priorities.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to levels of staffing for Integrated Care Boards in St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire constituency on the capacity of those Integrated Care Boards to plan new services for areas of high population growth .
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has asked the integrated care boards (ICBs) to act as main strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure to achieve a 50% cost reduction in their running cost allowance. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts on 1 April 2025, and tasked ICBs with developing plans by the end of May setting out how they will manage their resources to deliver across their priorities.
NHS England will be working closely with ICBs to support the development of these plans, ensuring that their implementation reduces duplication and supports patient care. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/
In his letter to ICBs, Sir Jim Mackay committed to greater transparency and moving back to a fair shares allocation policy over time. The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICB is within range of their fair shares allocation targets.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to reinstate the Business Engagement Forum to help ensure collaboration between officials in her Department and industry leaders.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
With the creation of Skills England, the department has developed a wider range of employer engagement routes.
In October 2024, following the publication of the first Skills England report, a series of round tables were conducted, engaging over 100 stakeholders. This tested the initial analysis but also drew out what stakeholders felt Skills England should prioritise and where it could have most impact.
In November 2024, the department conducted a comprehensive engagement programme, reaching 743 people across a variety of sectors and activities.
The engagement was designed to support advice on the future of the Growth and Skills Levy offer, and the skills element of Industrial Strategy Sector Plans.
The aim was to collect evidence on skills needs, flexibilities in the levy system and gather sector-specific views to inform the second Skills England report.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to reply to correspondence of 5 February 2025 from the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire on healthcare in Northstowe.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I replied to the Hon. Member on 28 March 2025.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help schools deliver (a) physical education and (b) school sports initiatives.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire to the answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 36741.