Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary schools in (a) Lancashire and (b) Fylde constituency do not have access to a library in the latest period for which data is available.

It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils. Headteachers have autonomy to decide how best to spend the core schools funding that the department allocates. Given this autonomy, the department does not collect information on the number of school libraries.

We welcome 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.