Adult Skills Fund: 2026/27 Grant allocation and delivery Arrangements
What it recommends
- “Accept the additional Adult Skills Fund allocation.”
- “Delegate authority to the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport to take any actions necessary in relation to the implementation of the additional Adult Skills Fund in line with existing responsibilities for Adult Skills Fund (Skills Bootcamps and Adult Community Learning). 1.”
What the meeting decided
The minutes record: Agreed. “RESOLVED to: 1) Accept the additional Adult Skills Fund allocation; and 2) Delegate authority to the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport to take any actions necessary in relation to the implementation of the additional Adult Skills Fund in line with existing responsibilities for Adult Skills Fund (Skills Bootcamps and Adult Community Learning).” minutes ↗
In plain English
Recommended · This went to the meeting on Tue 17 Mar 2026. What was decided is in that meeting's minutes.
A report to the Lead Member for Economy, dated 17 March 2026, says the Department for Education intends to give East Sussex County Council an extra £940,000 of Adult Skills Fund money for adult learning in the 2026/27 academic year. p1p2p3p4
The Lead Member is recommended to accept the extra allocation and to delegate authority to the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport to take the actions needed to put it in place. p5p6p7
The funding is an indicative allocation confirmed by the Department for Education on 12 February 2026 as part of the second year of the Pathway to Devolution pilot, with final allocations expected to be confirmed in March 2026. p13
The County Council would act as the accountable body, buying in training from providers through an open competitive process run jointly with West Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council, with delivery due to start in September 2026. p14p18
Show the 10 passages this is based on
- p1Report to: Lead Member for Economy Date of Meeting:
- p217 March 2026 By: Director of Communities, Economy and Transport
- p3Title: Adult Skills Fund: 2026/27 Grant allocation and delivery Arrangements
- p4Purpose: To inform the Lead Member that the Department for Education intend to provide the County Council with an additional allocation of £940k Adult Skills Fund to deliver additional adult learning provision during the 2026/27 academic year and to seek agreement to accept the funding and deliver the programme.
- p5RECOMMENDATIONS The Lead Member is recommended to:
- p61) Accept the additional Adult Skills Fund allocation; and
- p72) Delegate authority to the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport to take any actions necessary in relation to the implementation of the additional Adult Skills Fund in line with existing responsibilities for Adult Skills Fund (Skills Bootcamps and Adult Community Learning).
- p131. 1.1. 1.2. On the 12 February 2026 the DfE formally confirmed that as part of the second year of the Pathway to Devolution pilot, the County Council will be allocated an additional indicative allocation of £940,000 of ASF, in addition to its Skills Bootcamp and Adult Community Learning provision for the academic year 2026/27. The additional allocation is to be used to deliver formula funded, qualification based ASF provision, split across both core ASF and Free Courses for Jobs (FCFJ). Final allocations are expected to be confirmed in March 2026 when a grant offer letter will be issued.
- p141.3. As with other devolved skills funds, the County Council will act as the accountable body, with the Adult Learning Team (Employment and Skills) responsible for commissioning delivery, managing performance and ensuring compliance with DfE funding rules.
- p182. Supporting information 2.1. The County Council already has agreements in place to receive £1.68m of ASF (comprising £1.5m Skills Bootcamp funding and £180k of Adult Community Learning). The funds are allocated to the County Council in accordance with Section 14 Education Act 2002 and Section 100(1) Apprenticeships, Skills, Children, and Learning Act 2009 and the contract specifies that “The Provider must use the Funding solely for the purpose of delivering the Services as set out in this Agreement.” 2.2. As with the Skills Bootcamps programme, the County Council will be required to procure adult training providers through an open competitive process that ensures transparency and accountability. 2.3. The Adult Learning Team will work with relevant officers to determine the best process for procuring ASF contractors and will mobilise swiftly to ensure that contracting takes place in time for delivery of ASF provision from September 2026. 2.4. Procurement will be undertaken with West Sussex County Council (WSCC) and Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC), who have also received additional allocations, so that common procurement methods can be used in order to facilitate and hasten the process and to identify the most effective use of funds in order to inform the development of specifications. 2.5. Training delivery provision that can be commissioned using the funds include: · Skills shortages (e.g. digital, health & care, construction, green skills); · Residents furthest from the labour market;