PROPOSALS for Slough to take the Royal Borough's adult services under their wing and secure years of future funding will be decided next month.
The Skills Funding Agency is set to up the thresholds of its funding for local authorities - meaning the two boroughs would lose their �500,000 plus grants.
However, the merging of the two services ensures they will easily surpass the grant threshold and secure future funding.
Andrew Stevens, assistant director of culture and skills, community and well-being, presented the report to councillors at an education and children's services scrutiny panel on Tuesday.
He said: "There are certain risks in an authority where the service level is different - we need to bring them up to the same level as us and integrating services is hard.
"However there are financial benefits and re-investment into additional services for the community which is what it's about." The plan would shave more than �100,000 from Slough's adult learning spend but would include redundancies with Royal Borough staff transferring to Slough Borough Council.
Adult learning helps people develop practical skills to increase their employability. However the department needs to find �96,000 of savings by 2013-2014 which the merger would provide through efficiencies in shared management and administration.
It would also save an extra �18,000, through duplicated administration and management, which would be re-invested.
However, there will be additional costs in setting up a new shared service including �30,000 ICT implementation costs and an additional risk for potential redundancy.
The proposal was given the nod by Royal Borough councillors in November and the final decision will be made at a Slough cabinet meeting on Tuesday, February 14.
