Thank you for contacting me about funding for further education (FE).
The Government is committed to supporting people to realise their career aspirations without having to leave their communities, and to ensure that local employers have access to the skills they need to grow and thrive.
The Chancellor reaffirmed his support for further education during his Autumn Statement and recognised the pressures that are facing further education institutions. That is why he announced Sir Michael Barber’s appointment to lead a review into the skills sector. He will be advising the Chancellor and Education Secretary to help deliver on our ambitious skill agenda. In recent years we’ve transformed the skills landscape introducing new high-quality T Level courses; greater opportunities to upskill through our Skills Bootcamps; as well as our Institutes of Technology which provide higher level technical education and training across a range of STEM occupations and industries.
This is backed up by significant investment already announced totalling £3.8 billion more in FE and skills over the Parliament. Through its Further Education Capital Transformation Programme, the Government is investing £1.5 billion to upgrade the estate of FE colleges and designated institutions in England, promoting parity of esteem between FE and other routes. Furthermore, the Government will continue to encourage work-based training through apprenticeships in England, increasing funding to £2.7 billion by 2024-25.
Following a review into the classification of the statutory further education (FE) sector, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reclassified colleges and their subsidiaries into the central government sector for financial and accounting purposes. To support and protect colleges as the transition takes place, the Government will be investing £300 million of payments before the end of the current financial year. This will help to eliminate the current deficit in funding and move to a profile of funding which better matches need, recognising the challenging environment the sector faces. The Government will also be providing an additional £150 million of capital grant funding in 2023 to 2024
to support and protect colleges planning to invest in their infrastructure/estate where previously they would have borrowed from commercial lenders.
The Government has ambitious plans to reform the further education system through the Skills for Jobs White Paper and the Skills and Post-16 Education Act. This is being supported by the Levelling Up White Paper, published in February 2022, which outlined plans to radically shift the way in which skills policy is formulated and delivered. Moreover, the Government is due to publish a full response to the SEND and AP Green Paper early in the new year which will deliver reforms for those in further education who have special educational needs and disabilities
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.