According to the Buckinghamshire Council (Adult Education Functions) Regulations 2026, published on legislation.gov.uk, Buckinghamshire Council will take on a defined set of adult education functions previously exercised by the Secretary of State. The instrument was made on 21 April 2026 and came into force on 22 April 2026, but its main operational effect is delayed: the new arrangements only apply to education or training delivered in an academic year beginning on or after 1 August 2026. That timing matters. Learners and providers will not see an in-year switch for existing 2025/26 delivery. The change is structured to begin with the 2026/27 academic year, giving the council, colleges and training organisations a clear point for implementation, commissioning and programme planning.
The legal basis sits in the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016. The regulations record that Buckinghamshire Council consented to the transfer, that the Secretary of State considered the measure likely to improve economic, social and environmental well-being in the area, and that both Houses of Parliament approved the draft instrument. In formal terms the regulations extend to England and Wales, but their operative effect is confined to Buckinghamshire Council’s area. This is a devolution measure rather than a wider rewrite of adult skills law. The statutory framework in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 remains intact, but specified functions are reassigned so that Buckinghamshire Council can act within that framework as the local authority responsible for part of the adult education system.
Regulation 3 makes the clearest transfer. It gives Buckinghamshire Council, instead of the Secretary of State, the functions in sections 86 to 88 of the 2009 Act as they apply in the council area. In practice, those provisions cover education and training for people aged 19 or over, the provision of facilities linked to learning aims, and the payment of tuition fees. For providers, that means the council becomes the body able to exercise these core post-19 adult education functions locally. For residents, the immediate effect is administrative rather than visible on day one: decisions on eligible adult provision in Buckinghamshire can be taken closer to local labour market demand, participation patterns and the council’s own economic priorities.
The transfer is not complete and it is not without limits. Apprenticeship training is expressly excluded, as are functions relating to people subject to adult detention and any power to make regulations or orders. That keeps nationally controlled parts of the skills system outside this settlement. Regulation 4 creates a second category of powers that Buckinghamshire Council will hold concurrently with the Secretary of State rather than exclusively. These cover the encouragement of education and training for adults under section 90 of the 2009 Act, and certain funding powers under section 100. The concurrent model allows both the council and central government to act. The regulations also ring-fence some learners from that concurrent funding role: for approved technical education qualifications or approved steps towards occupational competence, the council’s function does not apply to those under 19, or to those under 25 where an education, health and care plan is maintained.
The regulations place Buckinghamshire Council under continuing central guidance. Where the council adopts eligibility rules for awards at institutions it funds under section 100, those rules must follow any direction given by the Secretary of State. More broadly, in exercising the transferred and concurrent functions, the council must have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State, including the government material on exercising devolved adult education functions referenced in the instrument. A detailed schedule then adjusts the 2009 Act so that, for these purposes, references that would normally point to the Secretary of State are read as references to the local authority. That drafting work is technical but necessary. It allows sections 86 to 88, 90, 100, 101, 103, 115 and 121 to operate properly once Buckinghamshire Council takes on part of the statutory role.
The instrument also makes a narrower but operationally important amendment to section 122 of the 2009 Act on information sharing. The explanatory note on legislation.gov.uk states that local authorities exercising devolved adult education functions, and people providing services to them, are added to the information-sharing provisions. In practice, that gives Buckinghamshire Council a clearer legal route for the exchange of data needed to run devolved adult education functions. The overall effect is a partial transfer of adult education authority to Buckinghamshire Council from the 2026/27 academic year, rather than full local control over every post-19 function. Colleges and adult learning providers operating in the council area will need to prepare for a system in which Buckinghamshire exercises significant powers, while central government still retains apprenticeships, detention-related provision, guidance and some overlapping authority. The explanatory note adds that no full regulatory assessment was prepared because no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.