Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of reallocating potential underspend from the 16-18 education budget to the adult education budget for further education colleges.

The department manages its budget within the Departmental Expenditure Limit to best achieve government objectives, including re-purposing underspends on some budgets to help with pressures and priorities elsewhere.

The department recognises the importance of adult education. Through a range of programmes, we are targeting provision at adults to equip them with the skills employers look for, and the skills that will lead to better jobs, better wellbeing, and better options for the future.

This includes through the Adult Education Budget, apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps, and Free Courses for Jobs.

The Adult Education Budget, worth £1.34 billion this year, funds skills provision for adults to help them gain the skills that they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), worth over £2.6 billion, will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK. The first skills priority for UKSPF will be to help adults improve their maths skills via the Multiply programme, worth up to £559 million.

The department is also investing £1.6 billion through the National Skills Fund across the 2022 to 2025 financial years, including an investment of up to £550 million to significantly expand Skills Bootcamps, and investment to expand the eligibility for delivery of the Free Courses for Jobs offer, which is now open to more adults.