A Reform UK mayor’s plans to ditch ESOL courses because they don’t benefit “native” residents have not yet been copied elsewhere in England, an FE Week investigation has found.
Last month, Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA) mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns announced her intention to redirect about £1 million in funding spent on English for speakers of other languages courses towards a more “inclusive” literacy and numeracy programme.
Jenkyns, who had a four-month stint as skills minister in 2022, is due to take control of £17-£19 million in adult education funding next year.
Her “policy principle” will mean ESOL courses which benefited about 1,400 learners in 2023-24 will no longer be funded by her authority from next September.
Explaining her position at a board meeting of GLCCA members who oversee skills and employment last month, she said literacy and numeracy were on a “really downward spiral” in Britain and that English language provision “doesn’t go to native Lincolnshire people”.
Dame Andrea added: “I stood on a manifesto to put Lincolnshire people at the forefront and a million pounds a year goes on this.
I think we need a more inclusive scheme which actually goes to the Lincolnshire people, because we’ve got to upskill them – they are left behind, very sadly.”
Other rule changes include requiring learners to live in the Greater Lincolnshire area for at least three years – reversing a recent national eligibility rule that gives learners funding eligibility from day one.
The draft policy changes for the next academic year won the support of all but one of the seven councillors representing GLCCA local authorities at the meeting, which included several Conservatives.
Dame Andrea said she hoped to make a further change to the rules requiring learners to have worked for the last 12 months “actually putting money into the system” before they can start funded learning.
Diana Sutton, director at The Bell Foundation, a charity that campaigns for language education, warned that removing or cutting funding for ESOL could be “counterproductive” in terms of promoting integration and improved job prospects for immigration.
She said: “Importantly, the 2021 Census shows that, of those people of working age who reported that they cannot speak English well or at all, 35 per cent have British nationality.”
“Access to appropriate and specialist English language provision should be seen as a sound financial investment as it can unlock skills and enable learners to contribute to and participate in society.”
Plans not replicated
The Reform mayor, elected earlier this year, appears to be the sole leader from her party to take a concrete step towards scrapping publicly funded ESOL courses, FE Week’s inquiries suggest.
Reform UK leads nine English local authorities and two combined authorities.
Six local authorities said they had no plans to reduce ESOL provision, although Kent County Council said it made changes to “some” courses to incorporate more literacy and numeracy skills following a £500,000 cut to its adult education allocation from the Department for Education this year.
Kent County Council’s leader Linden Kemkaran was the first Reform UK leader to publicly suggest scrapping the courses, questioning whether ESOL was “value for money” and suggesting individual learners should pay for the courses themselves or use a free language learning app.
But the council now says essential skills development, “including ESOL”, remains a priority for the council.
The spokesperson said changes it had made were part of a “wider redesign” of adult education in Kent following new adult skills fund rules that prioritise skills for employment and “no real-time funding increases in over 20 years”.
Meanwhile, Derbyshire County Council told FE Week it was not planning any changes “immediately” but would soon consult on “the future of all courses we offer”.
Cornwall Council, Derbyshire County Council and Kent County Council are all known to have closed some of their adult learning centres in the last year following national funding reductions for adult education.
Caroline McDonald, CEO of adult education sector body HOLEX, said Jenkyns’ plans were “an interesting development and one to watch”.
She added: “While it’s vital for integration that those making the UK their home can learn the language, positioning language development more firmly within the essential skills framework could, if managed well, strengthen pathways and progression.”
Local power
The government told FE Week that decisions on how adult education funding is spent are down to local authorities.
It added that devolved areas can decide how to support local and national skills needs, but should publish annual skills reports setting out how they have used funding.
It comes as the government announced plans to review the national essential skills offer, including ESOL, to ensure it helps people “progress into and within employment”.
In its immigration white paper earlier this year, the government also announced plans to impose tougher language requirements for immigrants applying to extend their visa or settle in the UK, alongside a promise to “make it easier” for people who need “additional help”.
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