A HAMPSHIRE MP has welcomed a massive cash boost to help adults improve their English and maths skills.

Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage says a £50m injection to the adult skills budget will be vital in ending illiteracy and innumeracy in the UK.

Ms Dinenage, who last year co-founded the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Maths and Numeracy, said: “It’s shocking that in the UK today one in six adults in the UK are functionally illiterate, while one in five lack basic maths skills. I hope that this funding will help drive forward my campaign to end illiteracy and innumeracy in the UK by giving support to those who so desperately need it.”

The money, made available through the European Social Fund, is intended to reach some of the 7.4 million adults in the workforce who lack level 2 or above qualifications - equivalent to A*-C at GCSE level.

It will particularly be targeted at female and disabled workers working for over eight hours a week.