A radical overhaul of Oxfordshire's adult learning service is being considered in the face of cuts.

Oxfordshire County Council will consider a raft of measures to save its programme of leisure courses, taken up by 22,000 adults each year.

Subsidies for recreational courses, such as flower arranging, art and photography, have been diverted to the Government's new priorities - skills training and vocational courses for under- achieving 16- to 19-year-olds and adults with no formal qualifications.

The Learning and Skills Council, which allocates the council's funding for adult learning, reduced its grant this year by 11 per cent to £4.3m - and is expected to make a further cut of £645,000 in the next academic year.

Further education colleges and the local authority have been forced to increase fees, leading to a dip in enrolments and fewer courses.

The council's three-year action plan proposes minimising the impact of the cuts by merging courses and reducing overheads.

It plans to plug a projected £174,000 shortfall for this academic year with a loan to the service, to be repaid by 2008.

Cabinet members must decide whether to replace leisure courses with self-funding activities clubs and concentrating courses in a smaller number of centres.

The action plan also proposes a marketing drive to attract more learners.

Richard Munro, the council's head of cultural and adult learning services, said: "While the Government's change of direction via the Learning and Skills Council will probably lead to long-term benefits for people who need to improve their basic skills or wish to acquire a qualification, it is causing short-term difficulties to service providers across the country.

"However, I am confident that we can overcome these difficulties by reconfiguring the service in line with the Learning and Skills Council's new expectations."

Don Seale, cabinet member for adult learning, said: "By imposing changes in funding, central Government is forcing councils to make severe cuts in these much valued services."