Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will rescind its plans to cease funding the Union Learning Fund in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

We are focusing on a much larger and more comprehensive package of training support. This includes the establishment of a £2.5 billion National Skills Fund to help adults get the skills they need, including the Lifetime Skills Guarantee which will support any adult who does not yet have an A level equivalent qualification to obtain one. This is in addition to the existing entitlement for adults without English and maths level 2 qualifications or Basic Digital Skills level 1 to get fully funded support to gain these essential qualifications.

As part of our expanded commitment to skills development through the National Skills Fund and Lifetime Skills Guarantee, I can confirm all the money will be invested in skills and retraining that will be fully accessible to everyone.

The government has no plans to reverse this decision.