Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she will measure the impact of the 2026 'Year of Reading' on children and young people.

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, aiming to engage new audiences in reading and make lasting change to the nation’s reading habits.

Grounded in existing evidence and new research by an external research agency, the campaign is designed to deliver meaningful impact during 2026 and beyond. The impact of the National Year of Reading will be measured through an independent external evaluation. The evaluation will examine how the campaign influences reading behaviours, connects with audiences and shapes attitudes towards reading, particularly among the campaign’s priority audiences including teenage boys, the early years, and families from disadvantaged communities. It will also assess the wider impact on the literacy sector and the foundations for long-term change. The findings will be published in 2027.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he will assess the potential merits of allowing local authorities to roll over unspent Connect to Work funding into the following year.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Expenditure on Connect to Work is annualised in line with standard practice for managing public funds. To retain funding controls, my Department cannot automatically carry forward underspends into future years. As part of the Connect to Work Delivery Plan approval process, local areas must profile their programme activity for the entire funding period, broken down by financial year and by month within those years. This ensures that funding is aligned with planned delivery and performance milestones. My Department will have regular performance conversations with lead authorities for Connect to Work and will seek to support any area that may not be delivering against their profile and will seek to support any area that may not be delivering against their profile. This will include the opportunity to reprofile in year as part of the annual review process

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the total staff remuneration through bank staff arrangements paid otherwise than through NHS Professionals Bank staff contracts in the last 12 months.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Bank staffing allows the National Health Service to meet workforce demand fluctuations without the need to increase capacity above that which is required on a sustained basis. NHS England publishes the total bank and agency spend for providers on a quarterly basis. This includes NHS Professionals as NHS England does not hold a split of spend by companies. The information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publications/financial-performance-reports/

NHS Professionals’ annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025 shows that remuneration paid through NHS Professionals Bank staff contracts for 2024/25 was approximately £1.1 billion. This information is available at the following link:

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06704614/filing-history

However, definitions used in the two publications may vary so the data is not necessarily comparable.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department are taking to improve the accessibility of streets for people with sight loss.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The design and maintenance of local streets is the responsibility of local authorities, who are bound by the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty to ensure their infrastructure meets the needs of all users, including people with sight loss. The Department for Transport provides local authorities with best practice guidance to support accessible street design.

The Department for Transport also works closely a range of stakeholders such as Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Guide Dogs to inform policy and guidance on issues such as tactile paving, pavement parking, and bus stop accessibility.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the eligibility of the Museum Renewal Fund to include independent museums.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Museum Renewal Fund is an urgent intervention this financial year to provide time-limited support for museums with a local authority link. The Fund, delivered by Arts Council England, provided targeted support for museums and focused on supporting the financial resilience of museums caring predominantly for publicly-owned Collections, responding to a clear ask by the entire museums sector. It is now closed to applicants and the 75 recipients were announced in October 2025.

DCMS provides a range of support for ACE-Accredited museums of all types, through Capital funds including the Museum Estate and Development Fund and the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, and tax incentives like the Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax Relief, and Museum VAT Refund Scheme.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will consider the potential merits of introducing a statutory definition of civic museums to include independent museums.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has no statutory definition for ‘civic museums’ as this is a label originating within the museums sector, which museums may choose to self-identify under. DCMS is advised by Arts Council England on the categorisation of museums: its policies for the sector and eligibility for support schemes are carefully designed to take into account the breadth of operating and governance models across the sector, as well as respond to new and emerging needs, including those faced by independent museums. There are no current plans to introduce a statutory definition of the term.

Found: Chair) Mr Bayo Alaba (Labour; Southend East and Rochford) Vicky Foxcroft (Labour; Lewisham North) Damian Hinds

Found: Q273 Damian Hinds: That was in time for the January meeting.

Found: Q273 Damian Hinds: That was in time for the January meeting.