Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on community cohesion of the withdrawal of ESOL Plus Mandation funding.

Nick Boles

We have not carried out a specific assessment in relation to community cohesion. The decision to withdraw the 2015/16 English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Plus (Mandation) funding was taken in the knowledge that providers could use their adult skills budget to continue to provide ESOL training for jobseekers and therefore mitigate any adverse impact. Our data showed that the numbers of claimants being referred to ESOL Plus (Mandation) provision was significantly lower than originally anticipated.