Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 29226 on Media, what the two media literacy programmes funded in 2024 were called; and where he plans to publish further information about each.

In 2024 the Government provided £0.5 million to expand the National Literacy Trust’s ‘Empower’ and Parent Zone’s ‘Everyday Digital’ programmes.

‘Empower’ provided media literacy education to nearly 4,000 vulnerable students aged 11-16, who were excluded or at risk of exclusion, increasing critical thinking and awareness of online harms. It also trained schoolteachers to lead media literacy within their schools.

‘Everyday Digital’ reached over 60,000 parents, helping improve their understanding of media literacy, set digital boundaries and critically evaluate online content. The evaluation showed a 45% improvement in media literacy understanding.

Both organisations evaluated their programmes’ impact and will publish reports.