Since 2001 the Scottish Government has invested 65 million British pounds in helping adults improve their literacies, routing the money through local authorities to learning partnerships charged with developing local adult literacy action plans. For 2002-2003, the first year of the new funding, the Scottish Government set the Highland Adult Literacies Partnership (HALP) a target of engaging 32 learners of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). Last year, HALP dealt with 728 ESOL learners. Over the same period the number of literacy learners doubled. The increase reflects both rapidly changing circumstances and the success of HALP in responding to them. When the Scottish Government decided to commit new money to adult literacy it made working in partnership a condition of funding. The approach has been hugely successful in the Highlands where a "literacies partnership" enables providers to take learning to learners, wherever they are. One important advantage to working in close partnership with other agencies is the flexibility it gives in listening and responding to the diverse needs of learners.