Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe The government will “rebirth” funding for union learning advisers five years after it was cut by the Conservatives, chancellor John Healey has announced. Healey confirmed today that unions will soon be handed cash for the Union Learning Fund (ULF), in his speech at Labour’s national conference. It is understood that around £15 million a year has been set aside for the programme. He said the scheme will be help workers in England “harness artificial intelligence”. Speaking at the conference, Healey said: “Today, I’m also announcing the rebirth of the Union Learning Fund, set up by Labour, abolished by the Tories, now re-established by this Labour government.” “I’m proud of the fact that last time, 180,000 workers every year got new training through that fund, and we’ll do that again. “Better skills, better prospects for British workers because of the decisions taken by this Labour government and conference.” The ULF was launched by New Labour in 1998 to encourage training uptake in partnership between employers and unions, but it was cut by former Conservative education secretary Gavin Williamson in 2021. Funded via the then-Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the ULF paid unions including the Trade Unions Congress to work with employers, employees and learning providers to encourage greater take up of education. It mainly did this by funding union learning representatives (ULR) to give workers advice, guidance and support to help study and upskill via training that is already publicly available. Spending on the fund peaked at £21.5 million per year between 2009 and 2012, with ULR advisors credited with getting over 233,000 learners back into learning in 2009-10. At the time it was cut, the Conservative government said the £12 million per year spent on ULF would be re-directed to the National Skills Fund and Lifetime Skills Guarantee, which included skills publicly funded skills bootcamps and the ‘free courses for jobs’ programme of courses up to level 3 for adults who do not yet have an equivalent qualification. Healey himself spoke positively about ULF’s impact as an “established part of the lifelong learning agenda” in 2002, while he was a junior education minister. In recent years, former education secretary David Blunkett, who launched the scheme, called for a return of ULRs as a key recommendation of his Council of Skills Advisors in 2021. However, ministers in Keir Starmer’s government repeatedly declined to restore the fund. At his Labour Party leadership coronation speech at the Trades Union Congress headquarters in July, prime minister Andy Burnham singled Blunkett out as one of his mentors. TUC general secretary Paul Nowak called the restoration of the fund “common sense” and a “real boost for workers, businesses, and the economy”. He added: “The decision to scrap the hugely successful workplace skills fund by the previous Tory government was ideological and a disastrous own goal. The chancellor’s announcement today rights that wrong. “There is a reason that many employers, providers and unions are united in support for this scheme. Every pound spent pays for itself over time – boosting productivity, opportunity and economic growth. “We will be working closely with our affiliate unions, government and employers to develop this scheme and ensure it is an even bigger union learning success story than the last.”