Draft Buckinghamshire Council (Adult Education Functions) Regulations 2026 Draft Surrey County Council (Adult Education Functions) Regulations 2026 Draft Warwickshire County Council (Adult Education Functions) Regulations 2026

Manuela Perteghella Excerpts

Tuesday 14th April 2026 General Committees

[Manuela Perteghella (Stratford-on-Avon) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. The regulations for Warwickshire county council are an opportunity to move real responsibility in the right direction: out of Whitehall and into Warwickshire. It is right that adult education functions sit with Warwickshire county council, giving local leaders far more say over skills, funding and provision.

However, we need to be honest about the context. Warwickshire is undergoing local government reorganisation, which will be followed by devolution and membership of a combined authority. The county council will not exist in a few years, and new unitary councils or a future strategic authority will inherit the proposed responsibilities mid-transition. That creates potential risk. Powers can be devolved quickly, but capacity takes time to build. If the change is done without proper support, new authorities will be left trying to deliver complex skills systems while establishing and reorganising themselves as new authorities. I would welcome the Minister’s reassurance on that.

Furthermore, my hon. Friend the Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom) tabled amendments to the English devolution Bill to strengthen local leadership in skills planning, including in adult education, which would have ensured that strategic authorities and employers work together, align boundaries properly and jointly shape local priorities. I hope that the Government will look at that important issue as local government reorganisation progresses. In conclusion, decision making should sit closer to the people those decisions affect, with local authorities given the tools and support to deliver, not just the responsibility.