Sunak’s flagship maths-for-adults plan cut back again
Rishi Sunak‘s flagship policy to improve maths skills among adults has been cut back for the second time in as many years, i can reveal.
The rollout of Multiply has been beset with problems, and last year £41m of the project’s £130m budget went unspent by local councils, with the money returned to central government due to spending rules.
It marks the second year in a row that the programme has seen its budget reduced.
Launched in spring 2022, the £560m scheme aims to improve numeracy among UK adults through free courses over a three-year period.
It was hoped the initiative would help 500,000 adults, however only 66,000 people had completed courses at the scheme’s halfway point, according to Department for Education (DfE) statistics.
According to experts, providers of Multiply said the policy’s design was hindering their ability to offer the training to the public.
The status of Multiply could be embarrassing for the Prime Minister, who has championed maths training and made “maths to 18” one of the flagship policies of his premiership. Nearly half of the UK’s working-age population has the expected numeracy levels of a primary school leaver, according to the National Numeracy charity.
Mr Sunak announced Multiply as chancellor in his 2021 Autumn Budget, telling the Commons that “people with poor numeracy skills are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as their peers” and that the programme would “help to change people’s lives across the whole United Kingdom”.
What is Multiply?
Multiply, which runs until March 2025, offers free and flexible classes to over-19s who do not have a C grade in GCSE maths or equivalent qualification.
Local councils, funded by a post-Brexit government grant scheme, work with further education providers to offer drop-in sessions and intensive courses.
In addition to the 66,000 people who have completed training, a further 200,000 have begun or enrolled on courses.
Administrative issues with providing Multiply courses were reported early on, with reports suggesting that bureaucracy was an obstacle for some councils.
In 2023, the Financial Times reported that £30m of funding given to councils was handed back as the authorities struggled to spend the allotted funds in time. One council said the DfE did not sign off any of its proposals until the second half of 2022, meaning schemes could only start in the fourth quarter of the year.
Plans to roll out a digital platform for people to access training on demand – at an expected cost of £100m – were scrapped in 2023 following a departmental review.
Marguerite Hogg, senior policy manager at the Association of Colleges, told i the £41m cut was disappointing.
“We’ve heard from colleges that the programme is making a real impact [and] learners are progressing. However, in adult education broadly, progression does not happen overnight, and colleges who want to offer Multiply have been hindered by the funding and commissioning process.
“For any programme to have an impact in the long term, sustained funding needs to be in place.
“The cuts to funding are disappointing; and this follows a trend of a lack of investment in adult education more broadly… This is at a time in which nine million people have poor literacy, numeracy and digital skills. Colleges are keen to offer high-quality courses to ensure adults can gain skills and confidence in maths but are hampered by funding and resource.”
The funding decisions for Multiply are considered controversial by some because it uses a pot of money – the UK Shared Prosperity Fund – created to plug local council funding gaps in the wake of Brexit.
Local government expert Jack Shaw argued it did not provide the best value for money.
“While investing in numeracy is important, the government was wrong to slash the Shared Prosperity Fund to fund Multiply, given it is a short, three-year funding stream.
“It is also curious that while underspends elsewhere have been rolled over so that they can be spent at a later date, Multiply has been clawed back by the Department for Education if not spent within 12 months.
“In the context of a short-term funding stream, ongoing policy churn and limited flexibility, it is not surprising that Multiply has failed to reach the numbers intended. This reflects an over-centralised approach that, regardless of what the Government is investing in, is not providing the best value for money.”
The Local Government Association said “councils worked quickly with the Government to plan the Multiply offer for adults through local partnerships to identify and engage new learners.
“However, a new service like this can take time to build up which is why multi-year flexible funding is vital to delivering it effectively and to improve services for communities.”
The DfE said: “Multiply has enabled thousands of adults to undertake courses designed to boost number confidence and gives local areas across the country the flexibility to offer a range of innovative programmes to suit their communities.
“We remain committed to giving people the essential numeracy skills they need to build successful careers. That’s why the Prime Minister has reaffirmed his commitment to maths to the age of 18, including through the announcement of the new Advanced British Standard.”
