To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are employed under the current provisions for funding under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966; and what research has been carried out into the future level of activities so funded.

Information is not kept in the form requested in the first part of the question. However, currently 10,066·5 full-time equivalent posts are approved for section 11 funding. The grant is intended to support the cost of employing staff to provide services additional to those provided by local authorities and others. The assessment of need is in the first instance a matter for local authorities and other bodies eligible for grant, in the light of local circumstances.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to increase the funding available for grants under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 in the light of the proposed extension of the criteria for funding under the Act.

We have no such plans at present. Within existing cash limits, extension of the scope of section 11 beyond members of ethnic minorities of new Commonwealth origin would enable local authorities and other grant recipients to re-prioritise their requirements for section 11 grant if they saw a need to do so.