§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many representations he has received, and from whom, requesting the provision of monies from votes for which he is responsible under section 11 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966, for the purpose of race relations work since the inception of that Act; and how many of these applications were successful;
(2) if, in the future, he will sanction the provision of moneys from votes for which he is responsible under section 11 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966, for the purpose of race relations work.
§ Mr. YoungerSince 1979 my Department has had correspondence from the Scottish Council for Racial Equality, Strathclyde community relations council and Lothian regional council about the absence of a grant scheme under section 11 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966.
Successive Governments have decided against such a scheme because the numbers and concentrations of Commonwealth immigrants in Scotland did not justify a new specific grant to local authorities, and I have no present intention to do otherwise.
Urban programme finance has however been made available to support a number of projects for ethnic minorities in deprived urban areas, and I have recently consulted COSLA about the possibility that the needs of schools with significant numbers of ethnic minority pupils should be taken into account in allocating posts under the grant scheme at present covered by SED Circular 991 which assists the provision of teachers for schools serving urban areas of deprivation.