To ask the Minister for the Economy, pursuant to AQW 17330/22-27, to detail the funding provided to further education colleges for the provision of English for speakers of other languages in each of the last five years.

My Department provided the Further Education colleges with £1.7 million as part of their overall resource budget allocation in 2020/21 for the provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages, and this continues to be carried forward in their budget baseline.

In addition to this, the Further Education colleges have received £1.7 million in additional funding over the last five years, details in Table 1, through successful bids made by my Department to the Home Office and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Funding was utilised to support with the provision of English Language training and to remove barriers to English Language training, including, childcare, travel, and IT equipment.

Table 1 - Funding for English Language Provision 2020/21-2024/25