Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the financial effect of the adult education clawback for the academic year 2021- 22 on affected further education colleges.

We monitor college financial health on a regular basis and use this information to determine where support and intervention from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and Further Education Commissioner can help colleges to improve their position.

Where colleges are at risk of running out of cash, emergency funding is considered on a case-by-case basis and based on a thorough assessment of each college's circumstances and the minimum funding needed to minimise disruption to learners.

The financial impact on further education (FE) colleges who did not meet the Adult Education Budget (AEB) Reconciliation threshold for 2020 to 2021 funding year was assessed using information in the College Financial Forecasting Return (CFFR) submitted to the ESFA in July 2021. In addition, eligible FE colleges were able to submit an AEB Reconciliation business case with an updated CFFR or additional financial information, where clawback of funds meant this had a material financial impact on their cashflow in 2021-22 financial year.