Bromley Adult Education College faces overhaul with plans to scrap up to 265 courses

Everything from art, music and sports to floristry and astronomy classes could be axed as the council considers radically restructuring the service.

Bromley Adult Education College, which has around 6,500 students on its books and 339 staff, is spread across three sites in Bromley, Orpington and Penge.

The council says it must restructure the service due to central government cuts to further education funding and the need to prevent or minimise overspending.

Art student Ann Frewer has studied at The Widmore Centre, Nightingale Lane, for many years and released an autobiography of paintings in 2010 with help from college teachers.

The 78-year-old, of The Crescent, said: "Adult education should be available right through your life into old age and be a beacon to keep you going.

"One person, who sits next to me, is fighting against going blind. Another person is fighting cancer. And another has got the most terrible twitch.

"These classes keep all these people on the straight and narrow."

Ann Frewer with her book, Life: The Greatest Privilege

The retired nurse has sent a copy of her book to Prime Minister David Cameron with a letter explaining how cuts to further education funding will impact her and fellow students.

Courses on offer under central government’s Community Learning funding would be cut from 440 to around 175, according to a council report outlining the restructure.

English, maths and training for unemployed adults and those with learning disabilities would remain key priorities for the service.

Employees risk redundancy and students would be taught at the Penge and Orpington sites or in community settings.

The Widmore Centre could be returned to its original use as a school.

A Bromley Council spokesman said: “Bromley Adult Education Service is currently forecasting an overspend of £382,000 and this, coupled with significant reductions in grant funding for Further Education providers, means that it is just not sustainable in its current form.

"Bromley Council has to make a further £40m savings over four years, from a total budget today of just over £200 million.

“This means it is necessary to refocus the service to protect vital courses like maths, English and those aimed at getting people back to work.

"If accepted, the proposal would mean Bromley Council would no longer be able to continue to provide the current volume of leisure courses, many of which receive a subsidy amounting to half their true price in the market place.

“The debate and decisions taken at the Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee and the Executive over the coming weeks will indicate whether a consultation will take place on these proposals this autumn.

"I should like to reassure students that any plans for the future of Adult Education will not affect courses booked for the 2015/16 academic year.

"Beyond that, the proposal currently being discussed focuses on the core areas for which Bromley receives central government funding.” 

The council first revealed a plan to scale back the service in January but it was shelved.

The new structure will go before the Education Policy Development and Scrutiny (PDS) Committee at 7pm tonight (July 8) at Bromley Civic Centre.