Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to increase funding for ESOL courses in areas with the highest proportion of refugees.

The government is offering refugees access to English language support through the Adult Education Budget. We provide full funding to English for Speakers of Other Languages courses for refugees who are unemployed and looking for work, and 50% funding for other refugees. Education providers have the freedom to determine how they use funds to meet the needs of their local communities. If education providers experience excess demand, which may be related to increased numbers of refugees, they can request growth funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. This is subject to the requirements of the growth exercise in that funding year.

Our funding is also responsive to local demand. For example, the government is providing up to £10 million over five years specifically for English language support for refugees who come to the UK as part of the Vulnerable People’s Resettlement Scheme.