The Government agrees that it is important to support adult learners to improve their skills and help break the cycle of disengagement in some disadvantaged communities. We are reforming post-16 education so that people can access education and training that meets their individual needs throughout their lives, no matter their age or how many hours they work. These reforms will help more people, including disadvantaged adults and parents, to access the learning they need. Our recent White Paper, Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth, sets out our intention to put employers at the heart of the system, ending the merry-go-round of endless short-term training and qualifications that do not lead to jobs. We are therefore continuing to fund adults to achieve their first Level 3 qualification (equivalent to A-levels), providing qualifications which can open the door to a better job, higher wages and career progression. We will also introduce a digital Lifelong Loan Entitlement, to allow learners to access up to four years of student finance (equivalent to £37,000 in today’s money) for flexible courses from 2025. This will make it easier for people to get the training they need and to retrain at any point in their lives, no matter their age or how many hours they work. We have also announced a £2.5 billion National Skills Fund which will help adults to train and gain the valuable skills they need to improve their job prospects. This funding aims to boost the supply of highly skilled workers that businesses need for the economy to grow. To ensure that all young children have the best start in life, we are supporting eligible parents to take part in free numeracy and literacy courses where these are offered. Our Family Learning projects focus on strengthening parents’ abilities to support children’s learning and development, as well as helping them to acquire new skills themselves. Our ‘What Works Fund’ provides targeted support to parents to improve their skills where this also improves their children’s outcomes. We will continue to invest in our free early education entitlements, and we are championing Family Hubs, as described in the response to recommendation 6, to support all parents and children, including disadvantaged White families. We are delivering the ‘Start for Life’ offer to transform outcomes for babies and young children, through improved family support in the critical 1,001 days from conception to age 2. Regarding community learning centres, we are committed to strengthening Community Learning across the country. We provide £200 million each year through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) to local authorities to fund adult education. While not ring-fenced, local authorities have used this funding to maintain a strong community learning offer. We recently published a new Community Learning Policy Statement, which re-emphasises the important role that community learning can play as a first step back into education and work, and the role that local authorities and other providers play in delivering this. We will publish further guidance in Spring 2022 to support local authorities in delivering high-quality community learning programmes.