Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding the Skills Funding Agency has provided for ESOL Plus Mandation courses since 2016; and how much such funding is forecast to be spent in 2018.

ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Plus Mandation refers to specified funding that was discontinued in 2015 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The department’s data showed that the numbers being referred to provision were significantly lower than originally envisaged.

The government continues to provide full funding for unemployed job seekers to improve their English, through a provider’s Adult Education Budget. Other learners are eligible for 50 per cent funding of course costs. In the academic year 2016-17, the government supported 114,100 ESOL learners using funds from the Adult Education Budget. Providers have the freedom and flexibility to deliver ESOL provision to best meet local needs.