Doncaster Mayor and cabinet approve additional £1m boost to adult skills funding to support learning

The funding boost is split between the City of Doncaster Council and Doncaster Colleges who get £640,000 and £360,000 in extra cash respectively.

Councillor Sue Farmer, cabinet member for Children, Young People and Families, told the cabinet meeting: “This is a great opportunity for Doncaster.

“We have lobbed for additional adult skills funding over the last few years and this new allocation is welcomed.”

The money will help improve the council’s adult, family and community learning service, which offers teaching for adults in English, maths and digital, as well as course of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL).

Mayor Jones told the meeting she was “delighted” at the additional funding and said it would create better opportunities for people in Doncaster and their families.

The extra funding for Doncaster Council comes in addition to its usual £814,000 budget allocated by SYMCA.

Unusually, the combined authority has not yet ratified the funding allocation approved by the cabinet in Doncaster, with members asked to do so in advance of the SYMCA decision so officers could begin work immediately once it was confirmed.

Reform UK welcomed the new funding accepted by the Labour cabinet, but insisted it was “not cause for celebration”, adding that Doncaster had been “short-changed” for years.

Cllr Jason Charity, chair of the audit committee, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s an admission of failure. The Council has sat on its hands while local residents were denied opportunities others across South Yorkshire received as standard.

“Now that the funding has finally arrived, the question is whether Labour can actually deliver. We’ve seen too many grand strategies that go nowhere. Reform UK will insist on full transparency, measurable outcomes, and a clear line from training to employment. Anything less is a betrayal of the people this money is supposed to help.”