Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the National Year of Reading in Scotland.

The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign to address the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults. For example, only last month our delivery partner for this campaign, the National Literacy Trust, revealed that fewer than 1 in 10 teenage boys read daily for pleasure.

The National Year of Reading aims to engage new audiences, reshape public attitudes and embed lasting, meaningful change on attitudes to reading. It includes a major marketing campaign as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout 2026.

Let me emphasise that this is a UK-wide campaign, and we are working in collaboration with the Scottish Government and DC Thomson, The Scottish Book Trust and The Scottish Book and Information Council to deliver this important initiative in Scotland. ​​