Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966

Houses of Parliament, London

Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 – which was titled ‘Grants for certain expenditure due to ethnic minority population’ – gave permission to the Secretaries of State to provide grants to local authorities with growing immigrant populations. The purpose was ‘to make special provision in the exercise of any of their functions in consequence of the presence within their areas of persons belonging to ethnic minorities whose language or customs differ from those of the rest of the community’.

The grants were used to fund various local schemes across Britain, some of which specifically supported migrant South Asians. For example, in 1994 Cleveland County Council applied for a Section 11 grant via the Home Office to fund a library awareness scheme for South Asian families living in Teesside. The purpose of the project was ‘to enable a greater number of Urdu/Punjabi/Bengali speaking residents of Cleveland to enjoy the benefits of the local library services’. The grant – which totalled £34,900, spread over three years – enabled the Libraries and Leisure Department to network with local organizations run by South Asians in Teesside. This included the Islamic Society of Cleveland, which had approximately 2,000 members, the Bangladesh Muslim Welfare Association and the local gurdwara. The Department also consulted British South Asian women who ran local organizations specifically for South Asian families, such as Jamila Din, who ran the Mothers and Children Welfare Association, and Shameem Tayyab, who ran sewing classes in Stockton-on-Tees and Thornaby. The grant paid for a senior assistant librarian at Middlesbrough Central Library, Rukhsana Aslam, who made connections within the community and offered advice to South Asian parents.

In 1999 the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant replaced the Home Office’s Section 11 fund.