Adult learners are being turned away from adult education providers due to inflexible funding rules and eligibility constraints, a parliamentary inquiry has warned. The report, ‘Skills for life, work and place’, found that 56 per cent of survey respondents said they often or very often refuse entry for adult learners because of the restrictions despite demand in industrial priority sectors such as manufacturing, construction and digital. A further 35 per cent said this happened occasionally, while none said it never happened. The findings come from an inquiry by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on further education and lifelong learning, supported by the Association of Colleges (AoC), which gathered evidence from more than 150 contributors, including providers, employers, researchers and learners. The cross-party group of MPs and peers offered 12 overarching recommendations to develop a national vision for adult education, including that government should establish a minimum learning offer to all adults up to level 3. Jonathan Brash MP, chair of the APPG on further education and lifelong learning, said: “There is strong support across the political divide for lifelong learning, and I urge the prime minister to take our united plea seriously. “We must turn this consensus into action and make sure that wherever people live, and whatever their starting point, they have the opportunity to learn throughout their lives.” Lord Johnson of Marylebone added that both the autumn budget and spring spending review are an “opportunity for the government to reverse years of underinvestment and give more people the chance to learn, retrain and get the skills they need for good jobs”. A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We are committed to giving people the skills they need for employment and further education as part of our £1.4 billion Adult Skills Fund. “Local leaders understand the skills needs of their residents and businesses which is why we are determined to providing them with the powers they need to enable growth in every postcode.” Multi-layered barriers The inquiry linked the restrictions facing providers to a long-term decline in investment in adult education. It cited analysis showing that public spending on classroom-based adult learning has fallen by 70 per cent in real terms since the early 2000s. Around three quarters of England’s £1.4 billion adult skills fund (ASF) is now devolved to local areas which create their own rules. Out of 62 providers who answered the question, 56 per cent said they often or very often turn potential adult learners away because of funding and eligibility constraints. This included reaching their ASF allocation limit. Childcare and travel costs, residency rules and mental health needs were also holding learners back. One learner said: “The reason I’m having to interview for a place is because there’s a limited amount of places and a big list of people who want to do level 2.” More than four in five respondents named funding as a major barrier to tackling skills shortages and two thirds said public investment was “not at all adequate”. Providers also described funding as fragmented, inflexible and insufficient. “Contributors argued that adult education is being asked to deliver increasingly wide-ranging outcomes without the stable funding, policy coherence or national direction needed to do so,” the report said. New City College told the inquiry: “The current rulebook that we have that determines whether you’re funded or not is more than two hundred pages long.” The APPG recommended a “baseline” adult education offer for every adult in England, multi-year investment plans for mayoral strategic authorities, and national expectations on funding and learner outcomes. It also called on government to explore options for local anchor institutions such as colleges and community education providers to award their own qualifications at entry level, level 1 and level 2. The AoC has previously called for awarding powers to colleges for higher technical and vocational qualifications. Welfare system falls short Adult education providers also poorly rated the government’s welfare support for retraining. Zero respondents said the welfare system was fully adequate for retraining, while one quarter said it was “not at all adequate”. The report called for a cross-government review on welfare rules for learners, a grant-based offer – in devolved and non-devolved areas – for learners below level 4 and national guidance on how universal credit interacts with learning. The APPG also called the incoming lifelong learning entitlement “valuable and welcome” but said it “should not be seen as a response to the broader challenges in access to adult education at lower levels”. Only 1 per cent of respondents said learner support such as advanced learner loans was fully adequate, while 24 per cent said it was ‘not at all adequate’. Protect ESOL funding Several providers told the inquiry they could use their “entire” ASF allocation on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) alone, driven by demand for the courses. Contributors “highlighted the need for faster access and more integrated ESOL and vocational pathways,” the APPG said. The report recommended “protected” ESOL funding for local delivery and making ESOL provision an “integral” part of a national vision for adult education. Move prison education to DWP MPs also heard evidence on prison education and called the scale of cuts to contract values “striking”. Earlier this year, ministers were accused of downplaying cuts to prison education budgets after a watchdog found evidence of “seismic” reductions. The APPG recommended urgently reviewing funding levels to improve employment outcomes and reduced re-offending rates. It also recommended moving oversight of prison education to the Department for Work and Pensions to “help ensure it aligns with wider adult learning and employment approaches” though contributors urged for provision to shift to the Department for Education. DWP said it was not currently considering taking responsibility for prison education.