English Language Courses Will Deliver Better Deal

Skills Minister John Hayes has pledged to provide more effective, targeted help for people who face barriers to learning the English language skills communities need.

Following the publication of an equality impact assessment of provision for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) training, which he ordered, Minister Hayes announced that BIS will work in partnership with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) on developing new forms of support for those who need informal, community-based learning of English.

From August this year, national provision of full funding for ESOL courses will be focussed on those actively seeking work on Jobseekers Allowance and Employment Support Allowance (Work Related Activity Group). As part of a broader move towards rebalancing the investment in skills between Government, the employer and the learner, other eligible learners or their employers will be expected to make a contribution towards the costs of their ESOL course.

Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, John Hayes said: “By targeting public funding on those in greatest need, and setting higher standards for providers, our reforms will make ESOL provision work better for learners, employers, and taxpayers.

“We are fully funding ESOL provision for jobseekers to help them to access work, but we will not use the public purse to support free English language training for individuals who have come here to take up work – companies that recruit abroad should take responsibility for that.

“We recognise there is a broader purpose to learning English; it can be crucial for integration and community cohesion. We believe that through this collaboration with the Department for Communities and Local Government we can reach those individuals who need language skills to get on.”

Minister Hayes has asked the Association of Colleges to advise on developing with providers an effective methodology for targeting funds at settled communities in which language barriers inhibit individual opportunity and community cohesion. Given the respective work that Lord Boswell and Baroness Sharp are leading on Adult Literacy and Colleges in Communities, the Minister has requested that they are involved in this work.

Ministers will also devise means to measure the quality of ESOL provision more effectively, with a new emphasis on progression to further learning and employment. Minister Hayes is committed to discussing measurements of quality with OFSTED.

(BMcN)