THE London Assembly has called for cuts to English language courses to be stopped.

The Government is set to withdraw funding for ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) plus mandated courses, which involve colleges working with job centres to help students find work.

A motion was passed in City Hall yesterday (November 4) calling on the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to lobby ministers to find an alternative to the cuts.

It also called for an analysis of the costs and benefits to London’s economy of ESOL funding.

Barnet and Camden GLA Member Andrew Dismore, who proposed the motion, said: “The Government is putting non-English speakers in an impossible situation.

“On the one hand you’ve got the Department for Work and Pensions insisting they need to learn English in order to receive benefits, on the other you’ve got the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills cutting all funding for English classes for speakers of other languages.

“We should be actively encouraging people to learn English and not putting barriers in their way. The Government have got this entirely wrong. It’s time they reversed their cuts to English teaching or urgently find an alternative source of funding.”

Speaking after the debate, Mr Dismore said: “The Mayor should be on top of this, as it is so important for Londoners who need to learn English to get on.

“The Conservatives’ attitude is little use in helping community cohesion and in giving migrants, refugees and asylum seekers a fair chance to build their lives for the future.”

The cuts have also been criticised by Edmonton MP Kate Osamor during a visit to Barnet and Southgate College’s campus in Edmonton Green last month.

In a letter to Ms Osamor about the cuts, skills minister Nick Boles MP said: “The decision to remove the additional 2015-2016 ESOL Plus Mandation funding for jobseekers was not one taken lightly and is part of the wider overall in-year savings that my department has had to make.

“This funding was additional to the Adult Skills Budget and our data showed that the numbers being referred to provision was significantly lower than originally envisaged, primarily as many jobseekers have successfully gained employment.”

The Conservative MP added: “Colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their Adult Skills Budget to meet the needs of their communities and it is therefore their responsibility to plan, with local partners, which ESOL courses they can deliver locally, within their resources.”