Mr. Greenwayasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has considered the report of the working group on the collection of ethnically-based statistics on school teachers; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerThe report of this working group, which was set up by my predecessor in answer to a recommendation of the Swann committee, recommends that I should require local education authorities to provide aggregate and anonymous data on the ethnic composition of their school teacher forces. I accept this recommendation. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales agrees that the proposals should apply to Wales as well. We now intend to consult all interested parties on the arrangements for data collection. A draft circular has been issued for consultation today and copies have been placed in the Library together with copies of the working group's report.