My Lords, I thank the Minister for his Answer. I am grateful for the two-page response from the department to the 5,500 responses to the consultation. I have two questions for the Minister: first, will he confirm that the Government still believe, as they did in 1998 when they published The Learning Age, that continuing adult education has a catalytic value in achieving social and economic goals as well as being of intrinsic value in itself? If so, why are they transferring this year some £128 million from the adult learning budget to the higher education budget?

Secondly, the department, in its response, made much play of so-called "self-organising adult learning"; namely, organisations such as the University of the Third Age. Without in any sense wishing to detract from the University of the Third Age, for which I have a great admiration, does the Minister think that such organisations attract into the system new learners rather than those who are already well learned?