Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Libraries for Primaries campaign.

The department welcomes the work of the Libraries for Primaries campaign and others, who work to support children’s reading. On 29 September, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, committed over £10 million in funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this parliament. Funding for this scheme will come from £132.5 million of dormant assets unlocked to support young people to access opportunities. The government will set out further details of the scheme in due course.

To support all young people to develop a love of reading, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has announced that 2026 will be the National Year of Reading. The campaign will address the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults and aims to engage new audiences in reading and change the national reading culture, both during the year and beyond.