HOMOPHOBIA in schools in Brent is to be tackled after a recent report claims that homophobic bullying is “almost endemic” in Britain’s schools.

Brent Council will be looking at ways to stamp out bullying at a meeting of the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee next week as part of February’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender month.

The report by the charity Stonewall found that nearly two-thirds of lesbian, gay or bisexual pupils experienced direct bullying at school.

That figure is higher for pupils attending faith schools.

Councillor Will Motley said: "The committee would like to raise the profile of this issue and is working with local schools and Stonewall to develop a project to tackle homophobic bullying.

“Brent is a diverse and colourful borough but homophobia must be stamped out as effectively as some of the other forms of discrimination we have known in the past."

Stonewall's Education for All campaign, launched in 2005, helps tackle homophobia and homophobic bullying in schools and works with a wide coalition of groups.

The focus will be on working with schools to develop effective anti-bullying policies after it was found that in schools that have said homophobic bullying is wrong, young gay people are sixty per cent more likely not to have been bullied.

But the report found that less than a quarter of young gay people have been told that homophobic bullying is wrong in their school.

Representatives from Stonewall and local schools will give evidence at the committee meeting at Brent Town Hall.

The report also found that ninety seven per cent of pupils hear insulting homophobic remarks, such as “queer” and “bender”, and more than half of lesbian and gay pupils don’t feel able to be themselves at school.