Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the National Literacy Trust report Children and Young People's Reading in 2023, published on 4 September, what steps they are taking to encourage reading in children and young people, particularly those aged 8 to 11, including investing in libraries.

The National Curriculum requires teachers to encourage pupils to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information. It also emphasises the importance of listening to, discussing, and reading for themselves a wide range of stories, poems, plays and non-fiction books.

The department believes that all pupils deserve to be taught a knowledge-rich curriculum that promotes the extensive reading of books and other kinds of texts, both in and out of school. School libraries complement public libraries in allowing pupils to do this.

It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian. Many headteachers recognise the important role school libraries play in improving literacy and encouraging pupils to read for pleasure and ensure that suitable library facilities are provided.

The 2022 Autumn Statement announced additional investment of £2 billion in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25, over and above totals announced at the 2021 Spending Review.

This means funding for mainstream schools and high needs is £3.5 billion higher in 2023/24, compared to 2022/23. That is on top of the £4 billion, year-on-year increase provided in 2022/23, which is an increase of £7.5 billion, or over 15%, in just two years.

The department published an expanded reading framework in July 2023, which builds on the original framework and also covers the teaching of reading in key stages 2 and 3, including guidance on how to help pupils who need more support to learn to read proficiently. The updated version has been expanded to help schools improve reading for all pupils so they leave primary school able to engage confidently with reading in all subjects at secondary school. It also offers guidance on developing a reading for pleasure culture in school, recognising the importance of reading widely and often for both academic success and wellbeing.

In 2018, the department launched the English Hubs programme which is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on supporting children making the slowest progress in reading, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have so far invested over £67 million in this school-to-school improvement programme, which focuses on systematic synthetic phonics, early language, and reading for pleasure. The department has committed a further £40 million up to the end of the 2024/25 financial year.