Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on (a) public and (b) school library funding.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

Local government is responsible for running or commissioning public library services. The Government has delivered a Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) that begins to fix the foundations of local government by providing significant investment and redirecting funding towards the services and places that need it most. The Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.

The Government provides funding to schools and academies through the Dedicated Schools Grant. Schools and academies are best placed to make decisions on how to prioritise this funding, including on school library provision.