§ Ms Estelle MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what steps her Department is taking to ensure that additional resources allocated to reducing disruptive behaviour in schools will address the problems of excluded children from ethnic minorities; [31082]
(2) what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of ethnic minority children among those excluded from school; [31071]
(3) what plans her Department has to discuss with the Commission for Racial Equality the proportion of children from ethnic minorities among those excluded from school; [31072]
(4) what action her Department plans to take based on the data available to it regarding the number of ethnic minority children among those excluded from school. [31073]
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe Department's guidance on exclusions, which was issued to all schools in May 1994, emphasises that disciplinary procedures should be applied398W objectively and consistently across all cultural groups and reminds head teachers that failure to do so could constitute unlawful racial discrimination under the Race Relations Act 1976.
The aim of reducing the number of ethnic minority pupils who are excluded is an important element in a number of the projects the Department is supporting under our 18 million programme of grants over the next three years to help schools tackle behaviour and discipline problems.
This Department is currently analysing data collected from schools on permanent exclusions in the 1994–95 school year, including, for the first time, information on the ethnic origin of permanently excluded pupils. Aggregate data will be available in the early autumn. My right hon. Friend will consider whether action needs to be taken in the light of that information and consultations with interested bodies.