Boris' rushed reskilling program has generated huge underspending

Low take-up in a flagship government retraining program which offers free courses to adults led mayors to return 64 million euros in the first three years, half of what had been allocated to them.

Free courses for jobs (FCFJ), announced in 2020, offers fully subsidized level 3 courses in hundreds of subjects to low-skilled or low-paid adults.

At the time, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson made headlines by promising that his Lifetime Skills Guarantee, backed by a wider 2.5 billion national skills fund, would improve career prospects, wages and would help close skills gaps.

But the analysis by FE Weekbased on information shared as part of access to information requests, revealed that half of the money given to mayors between 2021 and 2023 (133 million) was discreetly returned.

England's 10 mayors with devolved powers are responsible for around two-thirds of the $98 million in funding distributed to the FCFJ each year, but information on exactly how much they or the government spend has never been systematically released. published.

Experts blamed the FCFJ's low spending on tight eligibility, the cost-of-living crisis and the way the program was funded on short notice during the pandemic.

Who is eligible?

Before the FCFJ was rolled out, only young people aged 19-23 received full funding for their first level 3 qualification, while older people had to take out an advanced learner loan to pay for the course.

At launch, courses were free only for adults without Level 3 qualifications. This was expanded in 2022 to include any adult who was unemployed or earning less than the typical salary under the National Living Wage, whether or not they already hold a level 3.

In August last year, the government limited the offer to adults earning less than 25,000 euros.

The mayors said FE Week The DfE gradually relaxed the rules around which courses it could fund through the FCFJ and which learners were eligible.

Flaws from the start

Sue Pember, policy director at adult education organization Holex, argued that the FCFJ program was not always tailored to the needs of its target audience, who face rising costs of living and can bear the baggage of past educational struggles.

She said: Although the intention was laudable, it was flawed from the outset.

While official statistics show that registrations for level 3 courses on the FCFJ list increased from 32,000 per year in 2018-19 to 80,000 in 2023-24, only around 50,000 gained their qualification.

Pember said low participation and retention had been reported to the DfE from the start.

But authorities have failed to put in place a preparatory ladder of basic English, maths and studies courses that would allow learners to progress to a more demanding level 3 course, she added .

Gareth Thomas, a skills policy consultant, said some training providers may be reluctant to take risks on FCFJ courses in a bid to meet achievement targets.

There may also be market saturation, with learners also being offered shorter job-focused training programs such as sector-specific work academies and skills boot camps.

Mayor's expenses

Municipal officials said FE Week they returned 64 million of their allocation of 133 million between 2020 and 2023.

Underutilized funds that mayors hold at the end of the year are subtracted from the following year's payment, unlike remaining funds from the adult education main budget that mayors can keep as reserves.

Most mayoral skills teams said the rushed introduction of the fund towards the end of the 2020-21 academic year meant there was little time to plan for it.

In the three years to 2023, the South Yorkshire Mayor's Combined Authority returned the highest underspend, 74% of its 6.1 million kitty.

A spokesperson for the authority, which was granted devolved powers in 2021-22, said it had mobilized FCFJ supply in the second year (2022-23) and introduced local flexibilities regarding who could access courses for free, which resulted in a significant improvement of 90 percent in spending in 2023-2024.

Less rendered

The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, which spent just over half of its CHF 9 million kitty over the three years, said slower initial delivery was common with the new programs. It achieved full spending and execution in 2023-2024.

The Greater London Authority said it had recently used 87 per cent of its budget after spending just 16 per cent in its first year.

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “It is disappointing that at a time when money for adult education is tight, specific funding for the Free Tuition for Employment scheme has not been implemented on the front line.

He said FE Week that waiving fees does not, in itself, increase course participation, particularly if base funding for those courses continues to decline, making it difficult for colleges to retain and recruit teaching staff.

The English white paper on devolution published in December revealed that strategic mayoral authorities would no longer have to earmark FCFJ funding, meaning they could direct allocations to other adult education initiatives that better meet local needs.