Most people involved in post-16 education and training do not know enough about the public financing of adult learning. Whether learners, teachers or administrators, people prefer very often to look at the microdetails that they understand--the fees they or their students pay, the salaries they earn, what their departments or institutions will let them spend or what targets they must meet. Many public officials are the same, focusing on the funding they know and believing that the only thing worse than overspending a budget is to underspend it. In this article, the author states that the Government has been making encouraging noises about funding for adult learning and skills, but the numbers tell a different story. (Contains 2 tables.)