Summer Adjournment

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

It is fortunate that today’s debate follows yesterday’s ministerial statement accompanying the publication of a new equality impact assessment of courses in English for speakers of other languages. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester South (Jon Ashworth), I welcome its publication and I am pleased that the Minister has asked the Association of Colleges, together with Lord Boswell and Baroness Sharp, to advise on how funds can be targeted. However, I am sure that I am not alone in thinking that this is too little, too late.

Colleges have already planned their provision for September. ESOL learners who are no longer eligible for fee remission will have already decided whether they can afford to enrol on courses or continue their studies, and ESOL tutors will have made plans for the future. My first questions to the Minister are as follows, therefore: when does he expect to receive the report that he has commissioned, and why does he not delay these changes to allow him time to respond?

Not all Members will have had the opportunity to read the equality impact assessment, so it may be useful to highlight some of the key findings. Last year, there were 187,000 adult ESOL students, 68.1% of whom were female. The vast majority of them came from black or ethnic minorities. Some 42% of women enrolling on ESOL courses last year received fee remission because they were in receipt of income-related benefits. A further 2% of women and 7% of men were asylum seekers. If those learners were enrolling this year, they would have to pay hundreds of pounds towards their course costs. That is why 75% of colleges have scaled back ESOL provision. In the most basic terms, people on low incomes will no longer be able to afford to learn English. BEGIN —Basic Educational Guidance in Nottinghamshire—published its own equality impact assessment in April. It found that 73% of adult ESOL clients were from black and ethnic minorities, 83% were not on active benefits, and 84% could not afford new or higher fees.

The Government’s report summarises the evidence they received, stating that those required to contribute from August 2011 would be unable to afford to take up ESOL provision, that people will be increasingly reliant on their own families and communities to interpret for them, and that this change would deter people from accessing public services. It also stated that people would be unable to obtain work or make progress in the workplace, that parents would be unable to support their children’s learning at school, and that more would need to be spent on translation services. Members should note that the Government did not engage in an open public consultation, and by the report’s own admission it is “speculative”.

I therefore have a number of questions. The Department says that public funding should not substitute for employer investment and I agree, but what measures are the Government taking to ensure that employers do contribute to the cost of training for their workplace? What measures is the Minister taking to ensure that women learners who care for small children or dependants are not penalised for their caring responsibilities? The document also refers to the single learner support fund, but how much is available, and how much of this will be available to ESOL students? The report states that informal learning opportunities are expected to be available for older Asian learners, but what evidence supports this view?

The needs of asylum seekers do not appear to be addressed in any meaningful way, despite significant concern expressed by the Refugee Council. I know from my own discussions in Nottingham that it is vital that those who have been subject to persecution are not isolated and excluded due to lack of English. How can asylum seekers be expected to cover half their course fees when they are unable to work?

I would like to thank the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning for the constructive way he has kept colleagues on both sides of the House informed about this matter, but I have to say that, despite his good intentions, I fear his Government have fundamentally misunderstood the importance of ESOL to the communities we represent, and I urge him to think again.