§ Mr. PopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make a statement on the impact of the reduction in section 11 expenditure on access to, and participation in, the national curriculum of children from ethnic minorities in Brent, Hackney, Redbridge, Avon, Buckinghamshire, Cleveland, Hertfordshire, Birmingham, Lancashire and Wolverhampton.
§ Mr. Robin SquireDecisions on the funding of the education of their pupils, including those from ethnic minority groups, are primarily for individual schools and local education authorities. Maintained schools have a statutory duty to deliver the national curriculum as a basic entitlement for all pupils, whatever their background. My right hon. Friend will continue to monitor, through the Office of Standards in Education, the standard of educational provision in all maintained schools, including provision for those pupils for whom English is not their first language. Additional support for the latter category through section 11 grants and the single regeneration budget are matters for, respectively, my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment.