Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing for post-16 education providers in West Dorset.

The department is supporting providers across the country, including in West Dorset with over £18 billion per year of programme funding in post-16 education and skills, delivering record investment this Parliament.

This includes nearly £800 million extra into 16 to 19 education in 2026-27 compared to original plans, enabling providers to grow high quality pathways for thousands more learners.

Through £1.4 billion investment in the Adult Skills Fund, we are continuing to invest in high-quality training for adults.

The department oversees the further education (FE) sector through its regulatory and stewardship role, setting funding and quality expectations and monitoring performance via data, inspections and structured engagement, and intervening where standards, financial management or delivery fall short.

Tiered support is available from the FE Commissioner’s (FEC) team for FE colleges and local authority providers using a risk-based approach. If an intervention trigger is met, the FEC will undertake an intervention assessment and publish their findings with recommended actions to improve.