The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), the Multiply programme and Skills Bootcamps.

The AEB is worth £1.34 billion in 2023/24 and approximately 60% of the AEB is devolved to nine Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCA) and the Greater London Authority (GLA). These authorities are now responsible for the provision of AEB-funded adult education for their residents. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas.

In ESFA AEB areas, the department applied a 2.2% increase to the final earnings for all AEB formula-funded provision, excluding associated learner and learning support, in 2022/23 and 2023/24. The department also applied a 20% boost on top of earnings for all AEB formula-funded provision in six sector subject areas: Engineering, Manufacturing Technologies, Transport Operations and Maintenance, Building and Construction, ICT for Practitioners, and Mathematics and Statistics. Additionally, in 2024/25, as part of the AEB transition to the Adult Skills Fund, the department will introduce five new funding rates that will apply to the ESFA Adult Skills Fund with 78% of qualifications seeing a funding increase.

Prior to devolution, the Community Learning portion of the AEB amounted to approximately £230 million in 2018/19. The department does not collect data on what MCAs and the GLA currently spend on Community Learning.

In 2024/25, as part of the Adult Skills Fund, the term Tailored Learning brings together what was the AEB Community Learning, formula-funded AEB non-regulated learning, which was previously delivered through the adult skills, and new employer-facing innovative provision that is not qualification based.

The department is also providing up to £270 million directly to local areas in England to deliver innovative interventions to improve adult numeracy through the Multiply programme. The department is also building the evidence base on what works to improve adult numeracy, including through randomised control trials.

Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, with an offer of a job interview upon completion. This is supported by £550 million over the current Spending Review period as well as £170 million in grant funding to MCAs and local areas in 2024/25.

Spend by the department on further education is reported through publication of the Annual Report and Accounts. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is the domestic successor to the EU’s Structural Fund programme. It will maximise the benefits of leaving the EU through quicker delivery of funding, better targeting, better alignment with domestic priorities and by reducing EU bureaucracy.

The Department for Education is working closely with other government departments including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions on the development of the UKSPF. As set out in the Heads of Terms published in the Spending Review 2020, a portion of the fund will be targeted to people most in need through bespoke employment and skills programmes that are tailored to local need. This will support improved employment outcomes for those in and out of work in specific cohorts of people who face labour market barriers.

The government will publish a UK wide investment framework later in 2021 and confirm the quantum funding amount at the next Spending Review.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is the domestic successor to the EU’s Structural Fund programme. It will maximise the benefits of leaving the EU through quicker delivery of funding, better targeting, better alignment with domestic priorities and by reducing EU bureaucracy.

The Department for Education is working closely with other government departments including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions on the development of the UKSPF. As set out in the Heads of Terms published in the Spending Review 2020, a portion of the fund will be targeted to people most in need through bespoke employment and skills programmes that are tailored to local need. This will support improved employment outcomes for those in and out of work in specific cohorts of people who face labour market barriers.

The government will publish a UK wide investment framework later in 2021 and confirm the quantum funding amount at the next Spending Review.

Outside of mayoral combined authorities, support for the community based education provision will continue to come via the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

The national Community Learning (CL) objectives focus strongly on tackling disadvantage, including digital exclusion. Data for 2012/13 show that 9.4 per cent of all CL enrolments were in ICT subjects, with 97,310 learners participating.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) separately funds the Tinder Foundation to deliver a wide range of digital inclusion projects. Many BIS-funded learning providers - mainly Local Authority adult education services - work closely with the Tinder Foundation and UK online centres on a range of digital inclusion projects.

In addition BIS has run a series of basic digital skills training programmes with Tinder in recent years. These have helped 1.25m people gain the skills they need to become confident and safe internet users.

BIS contributes £210m pa to support community learning (CL) via the Community Learning budget, which is managed by the Skills Funding Agency. Funding is allocated via a grant arrangement with 315 learning providers, including Local Authority adult education services, Further Education colleges, and voluntary sector organisations. Many learning providers work with local sub-contractors.

The CL budget helps to support an on-going adult education offer in every area, rather than short term projects. Community Learning courses:

· meet a variety of learning needs, from personal development to pre-employment skills, health and wellbeing, parenting skills, crafts and languages

· are free - or nearly free - for people who are disadvantaged, with more affluent learners paying according to their means

· use flexible teaching and learning approaches and take place in accessible local venues in order to engage a wide range of people, including those who are very disadvantaged

· have varied outcomes, including improved confidence, better mental/physical health, confident parenting and progression to formal training and/or employment.