£25 million London cuts worsens ESOL crisis

On Wednesday 14 March the London Learning and Skills Council (LSC) will announce major changes to funding for courses in London's further education (FE) colleges. Colleges are expecting a 6% to 7% cut in funds for 19-plus adult education - which could mean a £1 million less for each large college.

UCU, which represents further education lecturers, believes that colleges will cut many 'entry level' and other courses which attract less funding, including many courses in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).

After a 1000-strong 'Save ESOL' lobby of parliament recently, lifelong learning minister Bill Rammell announced a number of concessions which he claimed would enable priority ESOL students to access courses. But UCU says the concessions are inadequate and colleges are being forced to ditch ESOL because of other funding pressures from the government.

UCU says ESOL courses are vital for developing the country's skills needs including the needs of settled communities and migrant workers. With the bulk of ESOL currently taught in London, cutbacks will affect efforts to meet the capital's skills needs for the 2012 Olympic games and beyond.

Barry Lovejoy, head of further education at UCU, said: 'Bill Rammell's recent assurance that there will be no need to cut ESOL or related staffing was clearly mistaken and his concessions were inadequate. Adult education in London is already suffering from changed government priorities and further cuts will damage London's economy and hurt immigrant families and migrant workers trying to improve their English language skills.

'Fewer ESOL courses will mean fewer workers available to fill London's skills gaps. With the Olympics and other skills demands on the horizon, this makes no sense. English language skills are also vital for greater social cohesion amongst London's diverse community.

'The government's failure to anticipate and fund the growth in demand for ESOL is creating serious problems for London. We will call on Gordon Brown to use his Comprehensive Spending Review to increase investment in adult education, including ESOL.'