Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to publish her Department's new public libraries strategy.

HM Government is committed to supporting a sustainable future for public libraries in England, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is presently working on a new Government strategy for public libraries.

To inform this work, the Libraries Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay appointed Baroness Sanderson of Welton last September to lead a review of public libraries and to make recommendations for the Government to consider for inclusion in its new public libraries strategy. Her report was developed through engagement with a diverse range of library services and other organisations with an interest in libraries, and involved nine roundtable meetings held across the country.

Baroness Sanderson submitted her report in July, and the Department is currently considering her recommendations. We plan to publish her report alongside the Government’s response this autumn. Her recommendations will inform the drafting of the new Government strategy, which we intend to publish in 2024, following consultation with the libraries sector.