§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will set out in the Official Report, in each of the last five years, public expenditure on the teaching of English to ethnic minority children; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DunnIt is not possible separately to identify expenditure on the provision to ethnic minority children of English as a second language teaching since it is increasingly delivered in the context of normal lessons in the classroom.
As my right hon. Friend said in his statement on 14 March about the final report of the Swann committee, good practice in the teaching of English to children of Commonwealth origin, as endorsed by the committee, will continue to be supported by grants made by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966. Roughly half the local authority expenditure on education being supported by section 11 grants goes on the teaching of English as a second language. Figures for the last five years are as follows:
293W
Financial year Local authority educational expenditure supported by grant under section 11 £ 1979–80 40,076,045 1980–81 53,715,772
Financial year Local authority educational expenditure supported by grant under section 11 £ 1981–82 56,592,291 1982–83 68,456,613 1983–84 74,736,446