§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future role of section 11 grant in the Government's programme to combat racial inequality.
§ Mr. Peter LloydWe continue to attach much importance to tackling the root causes of racial disadvantage—lack of English being a prime example—so that members of ethnic minorities can play a full part in the social and economic life of the country.
We envisage that the particular needs of ethnic minorities in the future will be met either through section 11 funding or through wider regeneration programmes under the single regeneration budget.
§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what target figures he has for the(a) national and (b) regional areas to spend on section 11 related projects for 1995–96;
(2) what is the planned level of expenditure in 1994–95 on section 11 grant to local authorities, (a) nationally and (b) regionally.
§ Mr. Peter LloydCurrent Home Office provision for the payment of section 11 grant to local authorities in 1994–95 is £46.6 million and the corresponding figure in 1995–96 is £41 million. It is not possible to give precise Home Office grant expenditure figures for 1994–9:5 as a whole, which will be affected by actual expenditure incurred by grant recipients. The following figures, broken down by regions, reflect budget allocations notified to local authorities in England in relation to their expenditure in 1994–95:
£ London 13,947,117 South-East 5,231,780 Eastern 5,190,023 South-West 1,042,756 West Midlands 1,981,374 East Midlands 6,535,306 North-West 5,981,235 Merseyside — Yorkshire and Humberside 1,475,385 North-East 598,728 In addition, authorities in Wales have been notified of allocations amounting to £645,528.
256WSection 11 grant is paid by the Home Office in relation to approved projects reflecting local needs; there can be no pre-determined expenditure targets for particular areas.