§ Mr. MaclennanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he anticipates that the first payments of £1,000 for the purchase of books under the National Year of Reading will be made to schools in Scotland. [32798]
§ Mr. Wilson[holding answer 3 March 1998]: The policy to which the right hon. Member refers relates to schools in England only. I have made separate arrangements reflecting the circumstances that exist in Scotland. On 8 March I announced that grants totalling £400,000 were being made available to education authorities as part of the Early Intervention Initiative. This 684W will enable the purchase of additional reading materials to help reading in primary schools and boost their supply of books in the approach to the National Year of Reading.