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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the (a) number and (b) cost to the public purse, of the loss of library books in the last five years; and what steps she is taking to help local authorities prevent such losses.

The Department has not made an estimate of the number and cost of library books in public libraries in England that have been lost in the five years since 2012. Local library authorities are responsible for providing public library services including managing book stock available for library lending.

The Libraries Taskforce is committed to working with local library authorities in England to promote improved procurement processes including of bookstock.