Four of the poorest areas of Essex are set to see investment in adult community learning.

A total of £260,000 is being spent in Canvey Island, Braintree, Harwich and Colchester - where people have to travel unreasonable distances to access adult courses - as part of Essex County Council's levelling-up agenda.

The additional money is being aimed at supporting some of the most disadvantaged priority cohorts - children and adults with special educational needs, families with children on free school meals and working families and young adults not in education, employment or training, sometimes referred to as Neets.

Currently, Adult Community Learning (ACL) does not have its own specialist health and science facilities in Colchester even though within the district there are several employers who recruit (or will be recruiting) to jobs within both the health and science sectors such as Colchester Hospital and Bradwell B power station.

This means residents must travel to the University of Essex to access hands-on learning opportunities.

To offer easier access to services, it is proposed to set up a specialist classroom for health and science-related subjects (including new apprenticeships) at a cost of £60k.

Essex County Council is also spending £70,000 for 12 months to offer community-based ACL provision in Harwich and Dovercourt to improve people's prospects and avoid residents having to travel to Clacton.

Although there are no wards in Braintree that are ranked among the 10 per cent most deprived areas in England, the Indices of Multiple Deprivation index (IMD) 2019 shows that within rural Braintree the levels of education and skills fall into the bottom 40 per cent nationally.

These deprived neighbourhoods are situated within the towns and villages of Rural Braintree which are not on main or regular public transport services, the council adds.

Residents must sometimes travel up to 15 miles away to Witham to access their nearest Adult Learning Centre so the council is spending £60,000 for an outreach tutor to work in rural Braintree in places including libraries.

A statement as part of a decision notice said: “ACL aim to improve lives through learning. ACLs' expertise is well placed working with hard-to-reach communities and supporting residents to access learning opportunities that can improve both social and economic wellbeing, raise aspiration, build confidence, and instil a culture of lifelong learning.”