Jobcentre Plus: English Language

Department for Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 17 October 2017.

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Photo of Gordon Marsden Gordon Marsden Shadow Minister (Education)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what funding was (a) allocated to Jobcentre Plus for English for Speakers of Other Languages courses in (i) 2014-15, (ii) 2015-16 and (iii) 2016-17 and (b) spent in each of those years.

Photo of Caroline Dinenage Caroline Dinenage The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

In 2014 funding of courses for Speakers of Other Languages in England was primarily provided through the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Jobcentre Plus which were responsible for making referrals to the most appropriate provision to meet the customer needs. For Scotland and Wales, the Department for Work and Pensions established contracted provision for English Language Requirements in November 2014 with a total value of £14.06m, with anticipated spend of £3.2m in 2014/15, £7.9m in 2015/16 and £2.9m for 2016/17.

Due to the low numbers of participants using this provision, a review was undertaken in Summer 2015, to consider future commercial viability of these contracts. Following consultation with Jobcentre Plus and providers, Ministers agreed a negotiated early termination of the provision, with no additional costs for DWP. Consequently total expenditure for English Language Requirements was 1.04m over the contract period, spending £87,000 in 2014/15, £625,000 in 2015/16 and £330,000 in 2016/17.

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