Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allocating and ring-fencing funding for strategic rail infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Responsibility for rail infrastructure in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. It is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive to allocate funding across devolved areas, and they are accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly for these decisions.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans the department has to support the National Year of Reading in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I recently hosted the East West Council in Belfast where the Minister for Early Years noted the significant collaboration between all four nations of the UK to support the National Year of Reading.
Education is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive. Decisions about the National Year of Reading in Northern Ireland are for the Northern Ireland Education Minister.
This Government remains committed to working with partners across the United Kingdom to collaborate to share best practices and I look forward to seeing how this great initiative progresses throughout the year.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether Young Futures Hubs will have a role in the implementation of the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The National Year of Reading is a Department for Education initiative, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust.
Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive. Local Authorities participating in the programme will co-design the services in each hub alongside young people in the community to ensure it meets local needs.
Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape, and will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote reading.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Reading for pleasure is hugely important and brings a range of benefits. That is why we have launched the National Year of Reading 2026, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust. It aims to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment through engaging new audiences, reshaping public attitudes and building the systems needed to embed lasting, meaningful change. As part of this, we are providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure.
The government has also committed £28.3 million this financial year to support and drive high and rising standards in reading. This includes supporting the teaching of reading across all primary stages and key stage 3 in secondary via the English Hubs programme. Furthermore, the government’s reading framework provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading, to ensure that every child is not only able to read proficiently but also develops a genuine love of reading.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to promote equality and inclusion as part of the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign designed to tackle the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults, and to engage new audiences in reading. It aims to make lasting change to the nation’s reading habits and is for everyone, including adults, children, families and communities, reflecting that the decline in reading enjoyment affects all sectors of society. However, there will be a targeted focus on certain priority groups: boys aged 10 to16, parents from disadvantaged communities, and early years children.
‘Go All In’ is a fully inclusive campaign, encouraging people to read about whatever interests them, through any genre and all mediums of reading, from physical books, to comics, to e-readers. The campaign includes support from a diverse range of authors, celebrities and content creators representing a range of different ages, backgrounds and cultures from communities across the UK. The campaign will reach communities across the UK through schools, libraries, businesses and local partners. Libraries, as free to access community hubs, will play a central role in supporting participation and helping people of all ages and from all sectors of society to develop a lasting love of reading.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the department has to promote the National Year of Reading in a) early years settings, b) primary schools, c) secondary schools, d) further education and e) higher education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment.
It includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year. Reading together is one of the most powerful ways to build a child’s language and communication skills, strengthen early bonds, and spark a lifelong love of reading, which is why early years is one of the priority groups for the National Year of Reading.
We are raising awareness of the National Year of Reading through a range of methods, such as via departmental communication channels, the National Year of Reading mailing list and social media, communications from the National Literacy Trust, and promotion via the English Hubs network.
All interested parties are encouraged to sign up to the National Year of Reading website for more information: https://goallin.org.uk/.
To further support reading for pleasure, this government has committed over £10 million of dormant assets funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this parliament, and a further £5 million for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading enjoyment amongst their pupils.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Civil Society Covenant will have a role in the implementation of the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign to address the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults. It is a department initiative, in collaboration with our delivery partner, the National Literacy Trust, who are leading the delivery of the campaign.
The National Year of Reading is operating as a collective impact campaign, allowing multiple partners from a range of sectors to participate, including schools, libraries, publishers, booksellers, media companies, retailers, and charities. It supports the Civil Society Covenant’s aims to build effective partnerships across the breadth of civil society and government, working together to tackle the deep-seated challenges of our time.
Tackling the long-term decline in reading for pleasure requires cross-sector support across the UK, as encompassed by the Go All In campaign which encourages everyone to get involved. The year includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings across the UK throughout the year.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many administrative letters to individuals under the on-the-runs scheme were issued broken down by year.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
This information is publicly available at Appendix 4: Chronology of The Report of the Hallet Review: An Independent Review into the On the Runs Administrative Scheme, which can be found here.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on his Department's modelling of workforce numbers in the 10 Year Workforce Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will publish the 10 Year Workforce Plan in spring 2026. This plan will set out action to create a National Health Service workforce which is able to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. It is important we do this in a robust and joined up way. We are therefore engaging extensively with partners to ensure this plan delivers for staff and patients.
That engagement began well before the call for evidence was closed. In early November, ministers hosted an event with nearly one hundred representatives of partner organisations to hear views from across the health system.
Engagement is now continuing while we analyse the submissions to our call for evidence, including a roundtable with medical royal colleges on 14 January, which I chaired.
We have committed to publishing regular workforce planning. This will start with the 10-Year Workforce Plan, which will include updated workforce modelling and its underlying assumptions when published in spring 2026. The updated workforce modelling will be subject to independent scrutiny by our appointed external scrutiny panel.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor delivery of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy, (b) provide stable multi-year funding for its implementation, including UKCVAM, (c) publish milestones and progress updates, and (d) support regulatory changes to increase the uptake of non-animal methods, including delivery of the strategy’s 2026 commitments.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government’s strategy Replacing animals in science strategy is setting up governance structures, including a Ministerial board, to oversee progress and ensure momentum is maintained. £60m of ringfenced, multiyear funding has been provided to secure long-term investment for the strategy’s measures, including UKCVAM and the preclinical translational models hub, through the 2025 Spending Review. Transparent targets and milestones, alongside KPIs will be published starting in 2026. Current legislation requires alternatives to animals to be used wherever available, so there are no current plans to change legislation.