The report published in 1919 by the Ministry of Reconstruction’s adult education committee set out a simple but compelling vision for lifelong learning. It described, rightly, how adult education was a national necessity, important for all sorts of economic and social reasons. It did so at a time of national reflection about how society needed to develop after the traumatic experiences of the First World War.

Despite coming at such a pivotal time, the report’s central vision was never fully implemented. Adult education did grow and many good things happened, but the vision and place for it as a national necessity never quite took hold.  Now, 100 years later, the Centenary Commission on Adult Education has set out a new vision in a report published today.

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Just like 100 years ago, this report comes at a pivotal time for both our economy and society. Brexit, of course, has fostered questions about who we are, what we stand for, and how we relate to each other and to the rest of the world. Technological change is bringing profound changes to our labour market, with the prospect of every job altering to a lesser or greater extent. Demographic changes are leading to 100-year lives becoming the norm, requiring people to work longer. Climate change is becoming recognised as an existential threat. Attitudes to living and working are shifting, with more people concerned about inequalities and social justice.

Adult education ‘as a national necessity’

The new report comes at an opportune time and requires serious consideration. The vision it sets has the same headline as 100 years ago, and why not, given that it was compelling then and it still works today? It says: “Adult education must not be regarded as a luxury for a few exceptional persons here and there... it is a permanent national necessity, an inseparable aspect of citizenship, and therefore should be both universal and lifelong.”

Across 18 recommendations, the report offers some great ideas, backed up by £1.1 billion of additional funding. That figure feels very modest, given that the adult education budget has been reduced by more than that in the past decade alone, but that would be to miss the point of the report. More than anything else, it’s difficult to read the report and reject the first two recommendations - for government to lead the development of an adult education and lifelong learning strategy, supported by a minister to lead its implementation.

Fast out of the blocks, both the Welsh education minister, Kirsty Williams, and Richard Lochhead, Scotland’s minister for further education, higher education and science, have voiced their support for the report’s overall thrust. That’s no surprise, given the work they have been leading since devolution and will help to ensure that the report is not overlooked in the coming months.

For England, the report might have landed at the most favourable time. We’ve already seen, in the first couple of weeks of electioneering, major commitments from all three main parties on adult education and college funding. More will follow over the coming weeks on post-16 education, and the final manifestos are likely to have detailed proposals on college funding as well as apprenticeships. Both the Labour Party and the Lib Dems’ announcements last week address head-on the overarching demand from the report for an adult education offer for every citizen, not just the privileged. It will be interesting to see if the Conservatives make a similar commitment.

One of the major challenges in England on adult education, as it is for post-16 education more broadly, is one of geography. When we look over the borders we see stronger partnerships between government and colleges alongside universities. They work together to develop local and regional plans for meeting the diverse needs of communities and employers. It feels more challenging in England, partly due to the numbers of institutions and partly due to scale and diversity. Add to that the patchwork quilt of elected mayors with responsibility for almost half of the adult education budget.

The question of devolution in England is important for adult education and is addressed in part by the third recommendation to establish adult learning partnerships at regional and local levels. Our work with the Commission on the College of the Future makes me wonder if that goes far enough on both adult education and post-16 more widely. Increasingly, I’m wondering if we need post-16 commissioners at regional level to oversee and support partnerships, along with devising regional strategies aimed at delivering the right mix and balance of opportunities for the whole population.

Underpinning that would be a new collaborative approach to post-16 education, replacing the current competitive environment which our research shows drives a narrowing of the offer. A collaborative approach between colleges, universities, charities and local authorities which holds at its heart the idea of adult education as a national necessity could deliver the vision set out 100 years ago. A case of better late than never, perhaps?

David Hughes is chief executive of the Association of Colleges