Correspondence

Strategic Authorities S31 adult skills fund funding for 2026 to 2027

Updated 20 August 2026

Applies to England

Buckinghamshire Council,
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority,
Cornwall Council,
Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority,
East Midlands Combined County Authority,
Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority,
Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority,
Lancashire Combined County Authority,
Surrey County Council,
Tees Valley Combined Authority,
Warwickshire County Council,
West of England Combined Authority,
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Date:  July 2026.

Dear Colleague,

Re: S31 Revenue Grant Determination Letter for Devolution of the adult skills for financial year 2026-27: No. 31/8240 (DWP Grant Reference: AEBDEVO-2025-26)

This letter replaces the letter issued on 15 April 2026.

This Determination is made between:

(1) The Secretary of State for Work & Pensions and

(2) Buckinghamshire Council,
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority,
Cornwall Council,
Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority,
East Midlands Combined County Authority,
Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority,
Hull and East Yorkshire Mayoral Strategic Authority,
Lancashire Combined County Authority,
Surrey County Council,
Tees Valley Combined Authority,
Warwickshire County Council,
West of England Combined Authority,
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.

This letter confirms the amount of devolved un-ringfenced adult skills fund (ASF) you will receive in the financial year (FY) 2026 to 2027 (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027) to deliver relevant adult education functions in your devolved area. For Mayoral Strategic Authorities, that includes adult skills fund (Core), free courses for jobs (FCFJ) and Skills Bootcamps funding. For Foundation Strategic Authorities, that includes adult skills fund (Core) as other funding streams are subject to separate grant agreements.

Payment arrangements

Your total devolved ASF for FY 2026 to 2027 is set out in the tables in Annex A which you will have received in mid-April 2026. Annex A does not include funding announced as part of the engineering skills package.

An additional payment will be made for engineering skills by mid-September 2026 and the amount is detailed in Annex B. 

We are providing this grant as a Section 31 (S31) non-ring-fenced transfer under the Local Government Act 2003 and have copied this grant letter to the Chief Finance Officer of your Combined Authority for information.

Assurance arrangements

Your Strategic Authority must have regard to the English Devolution Accountability Framework^{[footnote 1]} and the National Local Growth Assurance Framework^{[footnote 2]}, including adult skills fund guidelines. The current version of the framework was published in September 2021 by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and clarifies what assurances should be in place when administering adult education functions.

In addition, the Department for Education also has an associated Memorandum of Understanding in place with your Strategic Authority in relation to the devolution of adult education functions.

Enquiries

Please contact skills.devolution@dwp.gov.uk for further information.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,

Catherine Hayes, Deputy Director, Localism Strategy (Skills).

Sidrah Chowdry, Skills Bootcamps Programme Director & Deputy Director.

Re: S31 Grant Determination Letter for Devolution of the adult skills fund for financial year 2026-27: No 31/8240 (DWP Grant Reference: AEBDEVO-2025-26)

The Secretary of State for Education (“the Secretary of State”), in exercise of the powers conferred by section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, makes the following determination:

Citation

1) This determination may be cited as Devolution of the Adult Education Budget Determination for financial year 2026 to 2027 [31/7825].

Purpose of the grant

2) The purpose of the grant is for provision of relevant adult education functions and towards expenditure lawfully incurred or to be incurred through the associated Adult Education Budget.

Determination

3) The Secretary of State determines as the authorities to which grant is to be paid and the amount of grant to be paid, the authorities and the amounts set out in Annex A.

Treasury consent

4) Before making this determination in relation to the Mayoral Combined Authorities specified in Annex A, the Secretary of State obtained the consent of the Treasury.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,

Catherine Hayes, adult skills fund, Deputy Director, Localism Strategy (Skills), Pathways to Work, Connect to Work, Localism, Employment Support and adult skills fund Directorate.

Sidrah Chowdry, Skills Bootcamps Programme Director & Deputy Director, Operational Delivery Division, Work-Based Skills Directorate.

Annex A

Total devolved adult skills payments to specified Strategic Authorities^{[footnote 3]} paid in April 2026

Adult skills fund.

Skills Bootcamps – for Mayoral Strategic Authorities only.

FCFJ – for Mayoral Strategic Authorities only.

	FY 2026 to 2027 total	AY 2026 to 2027 total
Buckinghamshire	£3,787,824	£5,728,454
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	£14,225,911	£14,557,578
Cornwall	£9,866,186	£9,962,795
Devon and Torbay	£8,058,610	£12,224,008
East Midlands	£59,034,476	£60,020,215
Greater Lincolnshire	£14,541,352	£21,269,625
Hull and East Yorkshire	£13,518,546	£19,310,015
Lancashire	£27,282,065	£41,159,515
Surrey	£7,385,923	£11,160,357
Tees Valley	£35,552,817	£36,020,368
Warwickshire	£4,574,370	£6,925,414
West of England	£20,757,671	£20,929,024
York and North Yorks	£13,448,496	£13,672,999

Total devolved adult skills payments to specified Strategic Authorities by financial year and academic year

Table covering financial Year 2026 to 2027

	Apr 2026 to Jul 2026	Aug 2026 to Mar 2027	Total
Buckinghamshire	£0	£3,787,824	£3,787,824
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	£4,533,507	£9,692,405	£14,225,911
Cornwall	£3,251,080	£6,615,106	£9,866,186
Devon and Torbay	£0	£8,058,610	£8,058,610
East Midlands	£19,078,187	£39,956,290	£59,034,476
Greater Lincolnshire	£538,366	£14,002,987	£14,541,352
Hull and East Yorkshire	£761,927	£12,756,619	£13,518,546
Lancashire	£0	£27,282,065	£27,282,065
Surrey	£0	£7,385,923	£7,385,923
Tees Valley	£11,572,873	£23,979,944	£35,552,817
Warwickshire	£0	£4,574,370	£4,574,370
West of England	£6,823,289	£13,934,382	£20,757,671
York and North Yorks	£4,345,469	£9,103,027	£13,448,496

Table covering academic year 2026 to 2027

	Aug 2026 to Mar 2027	Apr 2027 to Jul 2027	Total
Buckinghamshire	£3,787,824	£1,940,630	£5,728,454
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	£9,692,405	£4,865,173	£14,557,578
Cornwall	£6,615,106	£3,347,690	£9,962,796
Devon and Torbay	£8,058,610	£4,165,399	£12,224,008
East Midlands	£39,956,290	£20,063,925	£60,020,215
Greater Lincolnshire	£14,002,987	£7,266,638	£21,269,625
Hull and East Yorkshire	£12,756,619	£6,553,396	£19,310,015
Lancashire	£27,282,065	£13,877,450	£41,159,515
Surrey	£7,385,923	£3,774,434	£11,160,357
Tees Valley	£23,979,944	£12,040,425	£36,020,368
Warwickshire	£4,574,370	£2,351,044	£6,925,414
West of England	£13,934,382	£6,994,643	£20,929,024
York and North Yorks	£9,103,027	£4,569,971	£13,672,999

Notes:

1. This is not the total amount of funding that you will receive for FY 2027 to 2028. Your payment will also include an amount from the academic year (AY) 2027 to 2028. We will confirm this amount in January 2027, and it will be issued under a separate S31 Grant Determination Letter.

2. For clarity and accessibility 2 tables are included here. Some of the same data is included in both tables (for example, August to March funding figures).

Total devolved adult skills payments to specified Strategic Authorities by funding stream

adult skills fund

	FY 2026 to 2027	AY 2026 to 2027
Buckinghamshire	£3,787,824	£5,728,454
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	£11,881,548	£11,980,465
Cornwall	£9,866,186	£9,962,795
Devon and Torbay	£8,058,610	£12,224,008
East Midlands	£52,489,929	£53,204,111
Greater Lincolnshire	£12,063,319	£18,281,165
Hull and East Yorkshire	£10,382,796	£15,718,216
Lancashire	£27,282,065	£41,159,515
Surrey	£7,385,923	£11,160,357
Tees Valley	£30,329,579	£30,582,079
Warwickshire	£4,574,370	£6,925,414
West of England	£15,197,885	£15,324,411
York and North Yorks	£10,535,327	£10,698,068

Skills Bootcamps

Funding is only non-ringfenced for Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

	FY 2026 to 2027	AY 2026 to 2027
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	£1,500,000	£1,500,000
East Midlands	£2,031,213	£2,032,745
Greater Lincolnshire	£1,615,097	£1,616,315
Hull and East Yorkshire	£2,285,781	£2,287,505
Tees Valley	£2,686,756	£2,688,782
West of England	£4,223,674	£4,226,860
York and North Yorks	£2,011,595	£2,013,112

FCFJ (excluding engineering)

Funding is only non-ringfenced for Mayoral Strategic Authorities.

	FY 2026 to 2027	AY 2026 to 2027
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	£844,363	£1,077,114
East Midlands	£4,513,335	£4,783,359
Greater Lincolnshire	£862,936	£1,372,146
Hull and East Yorkshire	£849,969	£1,304,294
Tees Valley	£2,536,482	£2,749,507
West of England	£1,336,112	£1,377,754
York and North Yorks	£901,574	£961,819

Annex B

Table covering funding for FCFJ engineering package for academic and financial year 2026 to 2027 paid in September 2026

	Total FY 2026 to 2027	Total AY 2026 to 2027
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	£89,637	£143,419
East Midlands	£398,069	£636,910
Greater Lincolnshire	£140,459	£224,734
Hull and East Yorkshire	£120,356	£192,569
Tees Valley	£228,813	£366,100
West of England	£114,656	£183,450
York and North Yorks	£80,042	£128,067

1. English Devolution Accountability Framework - GOV.UK ↩

2. [Withdrawn] National local growth assurance framework - GOV.UK ↩

3. Integrated Settlement deals are published on GOV.UK, and not included here. ↩