Croydon’s CALAT adult classes could go to colleges and charities, with 197 staff affected

Croydon Council officers want Croydon Adult Learning and Training (CALAT), the council’s own adult education service, to be handed in full to outside providers. Up to 197 jobs could be affected.

Officers make their case in papers going to the council’s Cabinet on 14 October. The council insists nothing has been settled. The Cabinet meeting would open a three-week public consultation, and a final decision would only follow after that.

Why Croydon wants to outsource CALAT

An independent review warned that CALAT would run out of money unless something changed. External consultants said the way it is currently funded cannot be sustained.

The service receives £4.6 million in grant funding from the Mayor of London. The consultants projected that £4.5 million of that would go on staff wages, which the council says leaves little for premises and running costs. It puts the resulting shortfall at around 20 per cent of the budget.

Four options were weighed. Keeping classes in-house was one, and a split model was another. The most drastic would have closed the service and given the funding back to the Mayor of London. Officers instead favour contracting all of CALAT out to colleges, charities and community training groups.

What it means for CALAT staff and learners

Casual tutors hold 144 of the 197 roles. The rest are 49 staff on permanent contracts and four on temporary ones. Some could face redundancy or restructuring, while others could transfer to private or charity providers under TUPE rules.

Teaching unions and frontline staff have raised concerns. They warn that handing classes to outside contractors would put job security at risk and weaken the help learners receive. The council’s own assessment judges that vulnerable learners would face little risk. It points out that any new teaching contract would carry a legal duty on the provider to keep standards up.

Thousands of Croydon residents take CALAT courses each year. Nearly 600 of them have disabilities, and many are adults learning English. About 70 per cent of skills course learners are from ethnic minority backgrounds, and more than half live in the borough’s poorest neighbourhoods.

Executive Mayor Jason Perry said the council would “listen carefully to learners, staff and residents through the consultation before making a final decision”.

Earlier this year CALAT was told to leave its former base at the Croydon Clocktower, and most of its classes are moving to Strand House in Thornton Heath. The council described that move as “a sensible use of the council’s estate” and says its backing for adult education in the borough has not changed.