Government’s recovery plans in jeopardy because of cuts to adult training funds
The government’s ability to deliver its skills agenda could be severely damaged if it goes ahead with a planned ‘clawback’ of adult education funding, after colleges have been unable to deliver practical courses face-to-face during the pandemic.
The clawbacks, announced late in the academic year, could amount to cuts of around £50 million, which the education and training sector have described as ‘damaging’ and ‘self-defeating’ risking reducing the government’s ability to train and retrain adults, just as furlough ends and the risks of mass unemployment are sky high.
In a letter to the Education Secretary, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, David Hughes has warned that if the cuts go ahead, colleges may have to scrap courses – including delivery of the government’s flagship T Levels, as well as finding themselves at risk of being plunged into financial intervention, or being forced to make large numbers of redundancies.
A letter detailing these pressures has…
