Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of devolution of the adult skills budget on reducing the skills shortage in the North of England.

The Government's strategy to better meet the needs of employers, learners and local areas is to establish a skills system that is responsive to local economic needs. For those combined authorities with signed devolution deals this means assuming responsibility for the Adult Education Budget (AEB) in 2018/19, enabling them to commission outcomes which deliver the skills needed locally. Devolution deals in the North of England all include full devolution of AEB from 2018/19, enabling areas of the North to tackle their local skills shortages.