Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

Amendments 153A and 211A reflect the concerns of such organisations as the Alliance for Inclusive Education that there are no barriers to participation in further education for young people and adults with learning difficulties. There is a particular concern that funding on the basis of completions discourages colleges from enrolling students with learning difficulties. Please let me reassure noble Lords that both departments fully recognise and support the need to ensure access for all learners and that, where appropriate, this should be to mainstream provision. Mainstream provision is already widely accessed by such learners. In the last financial year there were approximately 320,000 learners who self-declared having a learning difficulty or disability in mainstream further education provision. This represents 13 per cent of all learners. This success has been achieved through excellent work across the FE sector in supporting students and additional funding being made available by the Government. For example, the Invest to Change programme is investing £66 million over a three-year period specifically to improve the accessibility of local provision. It is also important to note that success factors such as completion rates are just one of a wide-ranging set of weightings that are used to calculate funding rates. Colleges receive extra funding through additional learner support, which they can use to ensure that the needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or other special requirements are met. The Skills Funding Agency will monitor colleges’ and other providers’ performance in ensuring access through the Framework for Excellence. This quantitative performance monitoring tool will incentivise providers to be responsive to the needs of learners and will include indicators on learner views and learner destinations, encompassing, of course, learners with learning difficulties. The framework will provide data to enable those making funding decisions to assure themselves that there is no unfair treatment in terms of inclusion, access, or delivery of services. Ofsted will also continue to look at the accessibility of provision and support provided to learners with learning difficulties as part of its quality assurance process. We are continuing to work with ALLFIE and other stakeholders on this issue as we move forward in this area. I share the concern expressed by the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, about this vital issue.