Key information
Request reference number: MGLA051124-4302
Date of response:
Summary of request
Request:
I would like to request a dataset detailing skills spending by your authority since gaining devolved control over skills.
Specifically, I would like the dataset to include, for each financial year:
Overall Skills Base Budget - The original budget allocated for skills.
Overall Skills Overspend - Any overspend incurred in skills spending.
Breakdown by Skills Budget Area - For each budget area related to skills, including (but not limited to) the Adult Education Budget/Adult Skills Fund, Free Courses for Jobs, Skills Bootcamps, and any other relevant budgets or funding sources (such as Gainshare) contributing to the total skills spend, please provide:
Original budget for each area
Final spend for each area
Our response:
I can confirm that the GLA does hold the information within scope of your request, as follows:
There are two areas to this request; (a), being the Skills Budget that the Mayor has devolved authority over and the (b), being Skills Budget that are grant funded.
With reference to the Skills budget with the Mayor’s devolved authority, please see the links below to the annual reports since devolution. The financial section in each report provides information responding to the requested data for;
Overall Skills Base Budget – * Original Budget Only (AEB/ASF and devolved skills programme)
Overall Skills spends and overspends (Expenditures for devolved programme budget areas)
A few points of note relating to the information provided in the links:
- AEB/ASF budget – while the report is based on the financial year calendar, the spend or overspend (expenditures) are reported in academic years (August of a calendar year to July of the following year) and;
- The report is only capturing expenditures position at a point in time , which meant the reported figures excludes any reconciliation and the actual final position for the reported period
AEB annual budgets:
Adult education budget: devolved grant determination letters - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
AEB annual spend:
2019/20 AY: https://www.london.gov.uk/decisions/md2614-adult-education-budget-aeb-201920-annual-report-dfe
Annual Report appendix: https://www.london.gov.uk/media/87871/download (reference: Key financial Information, item 15 on page 3 of this report)
2020/21 AY: MD2953 Adult Education Budget: 2022-23 Financial Forecast | London City Hall
Annual Report appendix: https://www.london.gov.uk/media/55689/download (reference: Key financial Information, item7 on page 7 of this report)
Annual Report appendix: https://www.london.gov.uk/media/100636/download (reference: Key financial Information, item 6 on page 15 of this report)
Annual Report appendix: https://www.london.gov.uk/media/105247/download (reference: AEB Spend, item 6 on page 9 of this report)
For any Skills reserves at the start of the last two financial years and part (b) (Grant Funded Budget), FoIA provides an exemption for information that is intended to be published in the future. Information is exempt if, at the time when the public authority receives a request for it:
- the public authority holds the requested information;
- the public authority intends the information to be published at some future date,
whether that date is determined or not;
- and in all the circumstances it is reasonable to withhold the information until its planned publication.
Section 22 acknowledges that public authorities must have freedom to be able to determine their own publication timetables. This allows them to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publication. It is however necessary to consider whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption (and withholding the information until the publication date), is greater than the public interest in releasing the information before this date.
The public interest - i.e. the best interests of the public - is met by the GLA being open and transparent, but also by managing its resources effectively, and this includes setting reasonable publication schedules to meet this public interest. While there is an obvious public interest in the release of the requested Skills reserves at the start of the last two financial years data, we believe this is met by our intention to publish information in April 2025 as part of the standard Mayoral decisions publications procedures. Also, for part (b) (Grant Funded Budget) the information for this is currently being gathered and we are anticipating that the remaining information will most likely be available by the end of January 2025.
We do not believe the public interest favours the disruption that would be caused to GLA staff by expediting this publication when its early publication would not meet any immediate or exceptional public concerns at the present time. We therefore find the balance of public interest falls in maintaining the exemption and the GLA publishing this information in accordance with our existing publication timetable.
Useful links
The Adult Skills Fund (ASF), previously known as the Adult Education Budget (AEB) funds education and training for adults aged 19 and above.