Jamie Stevenson: The Unjust Cuts to Adult Skills Funding 

In the midst of Colleges Week, as we reflect on and celebrate the vital work that colleges do, it is frustrating to be writing about yet more impending cuts to further education. 

These cuts threaten the delivery of adult education in local communities on a national scale and, as is so often the case, they will affect some of the most vulnerable people in those communities. They are contradictory to everything that colleges are here to do; provide opportunities, meet local and regional skills needs and develop a workforce for a thriving economy. 

The Adult Skills Fund is crucial for colleges to offer opportunities to those without English language skills, people with poor digital skills, and individuals needing entry-level education and training to secure decent employment. It is absolutely key to meeting the government’s 80% target employment rate and reducing the number of people not in education, employment, or training (NEET). 

The Real Impact of the Cuts 

A significant portion of college activities, particularly here at Lewisham College and at our fellow NCG college in Southwark, involves teaching English, maths, digital skills and ESOL to adults. We also support those currently unemployed, offering guaranteed job interviews through Sector-Based Work Academy Programme (SWAPs). Alongside this, colleges deliver vocational programmes to those who wish to increase their earning potential, change career or progress with their current employer.  

Cuts to the budget would severely limit our ability to deliver these programmes, and it would be impossible to support our current numbers of around 2,800 a year here at Lewisham – a number that increases to 4,400 if we include Southwark College. 

The current funding is already insufficient to meet the growing demand for adult education. In some of NCG’s colleges, the demand for these courses is so high that we are already delivering beyond our allocated adult budget.  

If the proposed cut of 2% nationally goes ahead, it would result in a £1.6 million loss in funding for the communities served by  NCG colleges. That loss of funding is very significant, but it is not our primary concern – it is the impact that will have on the front line of delivering these essential services to our local and business communities. It will severely restrict access to education and opportunities for individuals to better themselves and pursue good employment. 

Here in London, the proposed 3.3% cut would translate to a significant number of learners being affected – likely around 400 people who now won’t be able to access a programme with us.  That is extremely hard hitting in an area like Lewisham, which has one of the highest unemployment rates at 7.2%. That is 15,000 individuals in our borough in need of support and we’re losing funding that already only allows us to support 20% of them. 

Those figures aren’t just numbers or a funding amount. They are real people who need these opportunities. They are people who have succeeded thanks to the programmes and interventions we offer,  so we know that the work we do makes a real difference to individuals, communities and the economy. 

One of our most successful SWAPs, ran at both Lewisham College and Southwark College, was supporting facility management company ISS as it struggled to recruit essential hospital workers. The SWAP offered participants, many of whom had been unemployed for a significant amount of time, six weeks of in-depth training and work experience to prepare them for working in a hospital environment, with a guaranteed job interview at the end. The feedback from those who took part was phenomenal – we boosted their confidence, instilled in them some self-belief that had been lost while out of the workplace and even supported their reading and writing skills. Those who were successfully employed as a result of that SWAP are still working with ISS today, which shows just how impactful and effective these programmes are. 

Like any industry, we cannot deliver our promises without our greatest asset, our teachers. Adult education is an important route that can support this. In my previous role at another college, we delivered a Level 3 Teaching Award SWAP. Daniel Malecaut is one example of someone who completed that SWAP and after his guaranteed interview became a trainee teacher at that very college. He continued to progress and I am very proud to say that after becoming a fully qualified teacher he is now one of Lewisham College’s valued colleagues, teaching sport.  It is vital to invest in these programmes to encourage new people into education and in other industries.  

Contradictions and Consequences 

Colleges are community anchor institutions  with a duty to provide courses that support local, regional, and national needs, ensuring learners have the skills needed for employment and businesses have the skilled workforce for today’s and tomorrow’s economy 

We have a great working relationship with the Greater London Authority, who have recently published the London Growth Plan, and we really want to deliver on this, as well as the Inclusive Talent Strategy. Unfortunately, the policies and cuts from central government do not support us to do this effectively. 

The proposed cuts contradict the government's stated priorities of kickstarting the economy and breaking down barriers to opportunity. They will achieve the complete opposite. 

They also completely contradict the Department for Education's (DfE) demands of colleges set out in our annual Accountability Agreement.  

The agreement guidance highlights the importance of our adult offer in meeting local and national skills needs, particularly free courses for jobs and skills bootcamps which are listed as “high-quality, priority programmes with strong track records of delivering good outcomes for learners”.  

There is also an expectation set out that we offer more of, and prioritise delivery of, “essential skills up to and including Level 2 in English and Mathematics, and up to and including Level 1 for Digital” as these are “statutory entitlements for full funding adults who need them.” We absolutely agree these are essential programmes, but the expectation of colleges to deliver more and reverse a decline in participation is completely undermined by funding cuts. 

The government consistently puts skills, education and employment at the top of its priorities, but then asks further education colleges to deliver more for less. We face the same recruitment challenges and cost of living increases as schools yet face unjust funding cuts that will impact some of our most vital provisions, hit some of the most vulnerable members of our communities the hardest, and ultimately affect our national economy. 

Education should be an investment for the government, knowing it will reap the rewards in all areas of our economy, not a cost to be cut.  

We must prioritise and protect the funding that supports education and opportunities for all adults. This Colleges Week, and in the weeks that follow, I am asking for the support of our local MPs, our champions and everyone across the sector to protest these cuts and protect those who will suffer.