John Brennan: Evening classes could face their own top-ups

The Government has just entered what may be its last full session this Parliament. And education is certainly at the top of the political agenda, with more than 100 government backbenchers opposing top-up fees for university students. There is a real debate to be had about how best to raise money for higher education.

But next year there will be about more than 30 new bills. Work has begun on Labour's next spending review, which could decide what money is provided to schools, colleges and universities well into the next parliament.

The current funding settlement for further education has been relatively good. But even it has not provided the resources colleges need to meet even core programmes for 16-18 year-olds or basic skills. And since its announcement last year, it has been spread thinner.

The skills white paper has created a new entitlement for those without five good GCSEs or their vocational equivalent. Despite progress on adult basic skills, the most recent survey found more than five million adults with standards of English below GCSE pass level and nearly seven million with numeracy skills below the standard for 11-year-olds.

So while government spending on further education for adults will rise to £2.5bn by 2006, there will be shortfalls of at least £100m in these two programmes alone.

These may be the most obvious areas where more money is needed. But the Government expects employers and individual learners to pay a higher contribution towards courses that don't fit into these categories.

A lot of skills training run by colleges for employers doesn't lead to a nationally recognised level 2 or level 3 qualification. Yet colleges have done a lot to tailor courses to the needs of local firms and the local economy, sometimes setting up learning centres on the shop floor. Under the Skills Strategy they will be encouraged by the Learning and Skills Council to do more in the future.

To achieve this the Government wants employers to pay more. Perfectly fairly if this happens in practice. A recent Continental Research poll found that most employers say they should be compelled to offer more training. Yet, employers are supposed to pay up to half the costs of such training at the moment. However, discounts are often insisted upon locally, and there's no reason to believe this won't happen in the future. Colleges will be the losers unless employers put their money where their mouth is. Bryan Sanderson, the LSC's own Chair, acknowledged in a recent interview that some companies pay only lip service to training, which was "probably only 28th on their list of priorities".

Maximising business income is one thing. Increasing charges for individuals is another. AoC has calculated that the individual contributions towards adult learning could double for daytime and evening classes for anyone with a level 3 qualification already, or daytime classes for pensioners could be cut back.

The first group includes adults taking computer courses, language classes and other practical skills to become more adaptable in the modern labour market. As well as technicians, managers and craftsmen, they include many teachers and nurses. At present they pay a quarter of the cost of such courses. If fees are increased dramatically many will no longer be able to afford to go on learning.

The second group are those seen as no longer part of the workforce - pensioners taking on new challenges in their retirement, living an active life in their retirement by attending daytime classes at their local college.

The author is the chief executive of the Association of Colleges