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There are things in the skills White Paper that those who care passionately about lifelong learning and the empowerment of adult learners will welcome. But as well as admiring the angels in the architecture, the author contends, they need to look for the devils in the detail. The White Paper cannot be considered apart from the spending review settlement which preceded it and the demands made by the 25 per cent cut in the overall budget for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Lifelong learning's situation cannot be divorced from the circumstances in which further education institutions now find themselves. The government's cut of 25 per cent in their basic resource grant could put a number of them under severe financial pressure, limiting the range of courses and, in some cases, places for adult learners.

A new Labour government was elected in May 1997 and wasted no time in signalling its enthusiasm for the education of adults. Secretary of State for Education and Employment David Blunkett gave his first speech in office at the launch of Adult Learners' Week 1997 and announced the creation of a National Advisory Group for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning (NAGCELL) to advise him on a new strategy for adult learning. Its first report, "Learning for the Twenty-First Century," published in November 1997, proved significant. It called for the development of "a new learning culture, a culture of lifelong learning for all" to meet the challenges of economic, social and technological change, and argued for a simplified, coherent framework for the promotion of lifelong learning, giving increased emphasis to the home, the community and the workplace as key places of learning. In 1998 the government published a Green Paper called "The Learning Age: A renaissance for a new Britain." Blunkett's preface to the paper warmly endorsed the spirit of NAGCELL's report in terms which reflected much of the vision for adult learning NIACE had been developing over the previous decade. In the fourth article in a series marking 90 years of NIACE support for adult learning, the author reflects on the Labour years and looks forward to the challenges facing the Institute in the second decade of the twenty-first century.

Hardly anyone can have failed to pick up on the recent flurry of stories in the national press about the Big Society, sparked off by Dame Elisabeth Hoodless's remarks that funds for volunteers are disappearing at an alarming rate, and that this is undermining the very idea of a "Big Society". At the same time, under the government's radical Localism Bill, there are literally scores of provisions for communities to take on new powers--running services, planning their neighbourhoods, developing new housing, and so on. The author argues that the Big Society may open up opportunities for the voluntary and community sector, but it will be critical to build on what is already there and not allow good voluntary work to be lost.

From 2010 the Government plans to have in place a universal Adult Advancement and Careers Service. Beyond the general support to help find jobs and complete applications offered by Job Centre Plus, the new framework will provide a more holistic approach to employment and training. Currently, this kind of holistic support is only available to targeted disadvantaged groups through individual organisations and, as universal adult services are introduced, a lot can be learnt from effective services targeting specific disadvantaged groups. As the Government finalises plans for its universal Adult Advancement and Careers Service, the author considers what can be learned from services currently offering holistic support to disadvantaged groups. The author stresses that universal services need to be built around the needs of the service-users to be most effective.

Every government wants to appear to be tough on asylum seekers. But in failing to offer newcomers immediate access to English language learning one runs the risk of missing out on significant economic and social cohesion benefits. In this article, the author argues that asylum seekers need to get English language support in their first six months in the UK and be provided with immediate access to language training. She contends that language is key to social integration and, while she believes language learning cannot be called a human right, it is the means by which newcomers access their basic human rights and "become effective" in a country. It is particularly important for asylum seekers, since they are denied the opportunity to take up any other forms of gainful activity and are "among the most vulnerable sections of society". There is research that shows that those who have English language training in the early phases are much more likely to carry on learning, once they get onto the first step of the ladder.

In this article, the author sets out something of the vision in the Government consultation paper, "Delivering World Class Skills in a Demand-led System," and looks at how this is likely to play out for adult learners. The contention of Leitch is that there is a supply-led system in education and training. The Government has planned provision to give employers what it believes they need, and institutions have made an offer to individuals that they believe will give them skills for work and for useful lives as citizens. This model needs to be transformed. There is now need for a system that provides a market where employers and individuals are able to act as powerful customers who can choose providers and get the skills they want. This will be delivered through an employer-led system, combined with cash-in-hand in the form of learning accounts for individuals. There is a need to face the fact that in this envisaged demand-led system there are those who will not demand. Many adults need to be encouraged to see that education can offer them anything. To complete the strategy the meeting of the needs of those who need seduction to join any kind of learning activity requires much stronger articulation. (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) NIACE will be responding, making the case for a sensible joining-up of strategies for engagement and progression across the range of areas in which adults learn.

In this brief article, the author talks about what--other than money--works to widen higher education (HE) participation for adult learners. He also discusses the problems in trying to discover what works to widen participation for adults. One problem is that the decision to participate in any formal learning episode, including HE, is not a simple one-off event for many people. It is the product of their background, their previous experiences at school and since, the influence of their peers, and their view of what is appropriate for someone like themselves. The second problem is the quality of much of the research in the area. There is an urgent need for high-quality evidence of what works to widen participation, particularly to consider the impact of pre-entry interventions with adults. In order to demonstrate impact it is important that the evaluation is conducted independently of the widening participation programme. It is equally important that the evaluation is set up from the outset with clear objectives and pre-specified success/failure criteria. Putting money and energy into a new programme of any kind must, inevitably, have an impact of some kind.