John Denham - Social Market Foundation

Good morning.

Let me begin by thanking both the Social Market Foundation and NIACE for organising this event.

Why DIUS?

As many of you will know by now, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created by Gordon Brown on his first full day as Prime Minister. It brings together for the first time in government three strands of policy that are key to Britain's long-term economic and social wellbeing.

• Making the most of the skills of all our people.
• Producing world-class research and scholarship.
• Combining those skills and that research to create competitive businesses and innovative public services.
• And building a society where no-one is left behind, and where everyone can participate – thanks to higher wages, greater aspirations, or more secure and fulfilling lives.

These aims are precisely what DIUS is working towards.

It means that we and our partners are at the centre of determining what kind of society we live in and what sort of country Britain can become.

But though the social dimension of that vision is important, it is a vision that is ultimately focused on economic activities and interests.

The twin purposes of adult education

Now, it's fair to say that the purpose of adult education has always been twofold. It is clearly about enabling people to develop the skills and qualifications necessary to get better jobs. But it's also about meeting the basic human desire for intellectual stimulation and enlightenment. It's about adults building social bonds by sharing their interests and passions.

Indeed, it may be unrealistic to make a hard and fast distinction between these two functions. It's never easy to separate the practical benefits of learning from the accompanying sense of personal reward. Nowhere is this clearer than among adult learners below Level 2.

Learners with the determination to improve their basic skills not only make themselves more employable, but find their aspirations and self-esteem rise at the same time. It is for both these reasons that we're spending £1.5 billion per annum on learners at those initial levels. That total includes some £600 million on adult basic skills, around £300 million on English language teaching and £25 million on family learning.

Still, government does have to make some practical policy decisions. It is no secret that this Government has concentrated public money on improving skills and qualification levels across the workforce. Altogether, Government funding for post-16 learning and skills has increased from £6.5 billion per annum in 2001-02 to £11.2 billion in 2007-08. By 2010-11, it will be £12.5 billion - a doubling of investment over the course of a decade.

I make no apology for this. Teaching millions of people to read and write, helping more people find jobs and develop their careers is far from a narrow agenda.

In his report last year, Lord Leitch concluded - and the Government accepted - that by 2020, we will need to help two and a quarter million adults achieve functional competence in literacy, language and numeracy. And by 2010, we need to help over three million adults achieve their first full Level 2 qualification.

But today, I want to open up a debate about another, complementary area of my department's work. One that also has a vital role to play in shaping our country.

I'm not defensive about acknowledging that our decision to prioritise formal education is one of the drivers for the current debate on informal adult learning. For we continue to recognise the enormous value of learning that is part-time, often un-structured and for which gaining qualifications is not the main purpose.

It's why DIUS is funding informal adult learning through a safeguarded budget of £210m each year during the comprehensive spending review period. It's why we allocate £15 million each year to trade union learning and provide core funding for NIACE.

The "quiet revolution" in informal learning

But the principal driver behind the launch of today's consultation is the desire to ensure that our emphasis on vocational skills does not compromise the diverse and vibrant world of informal adult learning.

It also reflects the value we place on the long and rich history of adult education in this country. Trade unions, mechanics institutes, women's suffrage groups, political and religious groups, independent lending libraries - these were all part of the movement responsible for so many of today's universities, FE colleges and adult learning bodies. And organisations like the Workers Education Association and the Women's Institute remain very much part of the current learning landscape.

That landscape extends well beyond the influence of DIUS. Substantial support for adult learning also comes from other government departments - like Communities and Local Government - from the national lottery, from the private sector and from voluntary organisations.

For example, DCMS supports a huge range of learning opportunities through such bodies as the Arts Council, Sport England and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The BBC continues to be a force for education as well as for information and entertainment. Museums and galleries, like Tate Modern, offer education services and facilities to growing numbers of visitors. Public libraries are at the forefront of community access to learning and information, and many are reinventing the services they offer.

I'm glad that my colleague James Purnell, who is directly responsible for all these institutions and services, is as excited about this consultation as I am. He shares my enthusiasm for a sector that has undergone such dramatic change, as people learn in different ways.

Some courses are still taught in the classroom at a fixed time - an approach that would have been clearly recognised 100 years ago. But adult learning may be as easily stimulated by a TV programme that prompts a trip to the local museum, or an internet search that leads to a group of like-minded learners.

Most strikingly, much of the innovation in this sector in the early 21st century has been driven and achieved by learners themselves. People adapting new technologies. Not relying on support from local or national government to organise activities, but seeking out fellow enthusiasts through online communities and other channels besides.

Much of this comes down to the lives people now lead. We are living longer and more healthily. More people are in work than ever before, including those past the traditional retirement age. We're increasingly mobile, both nationally and internationally.

Technology has undoubtedly shaped they way we now learn. But I think the changing patterns of learning reflect more profound changes in society. Across many aspects of public services and private activities, people are demanding a more personal approach. One that puts them in charge. One that gives them more say in what, how, where and when.

Informal adult learning is no different. People are choosing and creating new opportunities to learn for themselves. And where new opportunities open up, people are using them in new and sometimes unpredictable ways.

Our individual and collective interests in learning have thereby been enhanced. Around 80 per cent of adults in this country report that they're taking part in some form of learning. Two million people watch Open University programmes without necessarily signing up to a course. 3.4 million belong to the National Trust, which offers various learning options, many run by volunteers.

A further substantial section of the population participate in an estimated 50,000 books clubs. First Oprah, and then Richard and Judy have helped to shape this phenomenon, but the idea of bringing together people to discuss and to learn from literature comes from an earlier era. It lies at the heart of the adult education movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries, in places like the Swarthmore Settlement in Leeds, Ruskin College in Oxford and Toynbee Hall in London.

But what's different about the new ways of learning, is how people forge links between different activities, organisations and technologies. How a family visit to a museum can prompt explorations online or the decision to join a group of volunteers.

At a meeting last week, I heard about the growing enthusiasm for genealogy. Inspired by the success of Who Do You Think You Are on BBC television, archives are full of people tracing their roots. People are turning to the web for online research tools and creating new history societies. They're even creating new community archives from scratch. And if we think for a moment about the wider benefits of family-tree planting, it can be the seed from which adults are inspired to improve their reading skills. It can be a springboard for further learning, a boost to self-confidence.

Why the consultation?

So now is an opportune time to consider how we can best support this vibrant culture of private and communal engagement - to investigate the causes and the outcomes of what amounts to a quiet learning revolution.

I have decided to take the lead in this process since DIUS and its predecessors have traditionally funded the greater part of education for adults as a whole - and it continues to make a significant contribution to informal learning.

I also want to challenge my department to respond to this story of tremendous dynamism, because DIUS is not just the department for colleges, universities and adult education services. It is also the department for students, for communities and for those adults who have yet had the chance to further their learning.

Equally, I want to challenge some of the recipients of DIUS funding - for, in truth, parts of the adult education sector have barely changed their approach in the past 50 years.

Much provision would be recognisable from Macmillan's day. It is isolated from the groundswell of popularly-organised learning, and it is missing out on the huge opportunities presented by technology.

The issues

So let me turn to the main questions and issues that we're keen to explore through the consultation.

Supporting learning from below

Our starting point must be mapping and quantifying the informal learning landscape. If we're to support people in taking control of their own learning, we must explore what's driving the range of activity that out's there, and understand how people move from one form of participation to another. How high-quality TV output inspires individuals to take an interest further, whether through the web or by seeking out similar enthusiasts locally.

The potential here for experts to share their passions on a voluntary basis is enormous, amply demonstrated by the University of the Third Age. The U3A comprises 640 active groups involving almost 200,000 people and is entirely self-funded.

Similarly, the Young Foundation has been developing schoolofeverything.com - an online platform that allows learners and teachers to come together and organise their own learning activities. Already, it's offering topics as diverse as maths, yoga and blogging.

Indeed, the success of such ventures raises a serious question as to whether government needs to be involved in some voluntary activities at all.

The role of Government

But the role of Government in the broadest sense is an important part of this general debate - and here I mean all departments with a stake in informal learning, whose contributions need to be fully understood and recognised.

Now, given the diversity of need, demand and current activity, it strikes me that the creation of a single funding system or a centralised learning strategy is probably not the best way forward.

By contrast, if there are ways in which we can remove obstacles to the most cost-effective and productive use of resources, and introduce greater flexibility to funding streams, we absolutely want to hear what they are.

For example, that may involve offering easier access to public facilities, such as school buildings. There are already 8,000 extended schools, whose premises and modern ICT can be used for a plethora of community purposes. The same applies to Sure Start centres, Lottery-funded venues and the 6,000 UK online centres.

The adult education service

In the specific case of DIUS, we invite contributions on the future of adult education services themselves. What should be the future direction for a service that needs to transform itself in order to meet the demands of 21st-century learners?

I think there are several possibilities here in terms of prioritising use of the DIUS budget. We could continue giving subsidies to providers in order to arrange courses, or we could conclude that focusing spending on infrastructure might be a better use of money.

A further alternative could be to introduce real or virtual vouchers, a way of putting power in the hands of ordinary people, and enabling them to organise provision for their own learning. This idea could build on the mechanism being used for skills accounts from 2010.

Technology

If vouchers represent one kind of innovation, then it's vital that we harness the constant tide of advances in technology and broadcasting. Already RF chips are transforming our experience of museums, such that we can stand in front of a painting and enjoy commentary from leading art historians and curators. Mobile phones are now being used to guide tourists on walks through unfamiliar cities. Through the internet, new global communities have sprung up, bringing together people who suffer from specific medical conditions or are trying to learn the same language.

What's critical here is making the most of technology to facilitate learning, especially with the extension of broadband and the transition to digital television. The interactive possibilities in both spheres are considerable ? for learners, providers and government itself.

I'm delighted that a range of technology companies will be helping us with this work, including Sky, Microsoft, Intel and Vodafone. With their help and advice, I want the consultation to examine what future generations of learners might be able to do in the wake of further innovation. In what ways can we help people to better navigate often overwhelming amounts of information to identify the exactly the right learning opportunity for them? How can we help those who are isolated to participate in communal activities - a housebound person, say, who might communicate with book club companions through an interactive TV service?

Equality of access

Those two examples bring to me to the final major issue in the consultation. We recognise the fact that people from disadvantaged backgrounds stand to gain the most from learning, but that they often face the greatest barriers to doing so, whether through lack of money or mobility, because of learning difficulties or limited language skills.

We need to understand the barriers that currently exist - including the consequences of a digital divide - and how they affect particular sections of society.

But we must also guarantee equality of access to learning of all kinds. Ensuring that poorer people can access not only learning that's of practical use, but that satisfies their curiosities in the way it does for all.

This cannot be about separate provision for disadvantaged people. They have a right to exactly the same learning opportunities as those enjoyed by everyone else.

What now?

The last thing I'd like to cover this morning is the process for the consultation itself. It flows from our commitment to make DIUS a forward-thinking department in terms of working practices and its approach to policy creation that we want this consultation to be innovative and wide-ranging.

We want to hear from as many people as possible who are interested in adult learning. From learners themselves and from teachers, from small community groups and organisations of national breadth. We have already received valuable input from a wide range of sources - art galleries and archives, colleagues across government and bodies like NIACE.

I'm now delighted to announce that several important organisations have agreed to participate in five working groups addressing key areas of the consultation. These will cover technology, as I have explained, plus the voluntary sector, where the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action is signed up. A cross-government workstream, with support from the Office of the Third Sector and DCMS. A Families group, including the Family Learning Network. And an older people group, where U3A and Help the Aged will share their wisdom.

Together, we have a unique opportunity to ensure that informal education goes from strength to strength in the 21st century. This is our chance to build on the pioneering work of another era - of characters like Tawney and Toynbee, Cons and Birkbeck.

We should bear their legacy in mind during the weeks and months ahead - the spirit of innovation that drove those educators, trade unionists and public servants.

Where it currently exists, we should recognise, encourage and support that innovation. Where it could exist, we should create the conditions that will foster it.

To do so, we must reach out beyond existing institutions and providers - to hear from people and communities. How are their lives and needs changing? How do they wish to organise learning so that it is most useful and accessible to them? How do we build on the growing desire for people to come together and to organise their own learning?

Our vision for the future of informal learning must bring together and build on many interests; those of teachers and learners, communities and providers, traditions and technologies.

For my part, I'm looking forward to hearing your views. Thank you.