World Book Day

Dominic Raab Excerpts

Wednesday 6th March 2024 Westminster Hall

[Nickie Aiken]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We must all work together to ensure that children are open to or introduced to reading at an early age.

We are fortunate in the Cities of London and Westminster to be home to some amazing libraries such as Pimlico, Victoria and the Barbican children’s library. In total there are more than 15 libraries for public use across the two cities. As local authorities’ budgets become tighter and with household incomes squeezed, I do not think it has ever been more important to protect our libraries. They not only offer a diverse range of books, but act as an essential third place between home and school. That is particularly beneficial for children who live in overcrowded homes and need a quiet place to do their homework.

Yesterday, I jointly hosted the World Book Day parliamentary drop-in with my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South (Andrew Lewer). It was an amazing day and I thank all the MPs who turned up to collect books for their schools.

According to World Book Day, reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success, more so than parents’ educational backgrounds or income. That is why it is so important to support initiatives such as World Book Day. Last year alone, the organisation provided 50 million £1 book tokens to children in the UK. Children across my constituency benefited from them and will do so again this year. I look forward to visiting schools over the next couple of days to hand out book tokens.

According to World Book Day research, a staggering one in seven pupils stated that the book they purchased with the token they were given was the first book they had ever bought. For those receiving free school meals, the figure climbs to one in five pupils. Also according to World Book Day research, reading for pleasure is at its lowest since 2005. We must all work together, whatever our political party, to reverse that trend.

I am very, very proud that since 2010 the Conservative Government have made improving children’s literacy a major priority, and results are paying off. The most recent OECD programme for international student assessment international literacy tables saw the UK climb from 25th in 2009 to 13th in the 2022 rankings. I fully support the Government’s reading framework that is designed to increase the focus on reading for schoolchildren. Moreover, the Department for Education has invested an extra £24 million to support children’s literacy skills over the past year to help pupils’ recovery from the pandemic and to work towards achieving the target of 90% of primary school pupils reaching the expected standard in literacy and numeracy.

[Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate and the powerful message she is sending. World Book Day’s theme is encouraging reading for fun, and, with nine and 11-year-old boys myself, I know that that is a real challenge. She rightly points to the increase in literacy levels among young people under this Government. That is one of our proudest achievements and it would not have happened without the emphasis on phonics and the core skills that unlock the independence of mind and creative thinking that goes into reading for fun.

[Nickie Aiken]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. When my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was Education Secretary he really emphasised that, working with his ministerial team, and the results are paying off.

World Book Day research has also shown that reading with a parent is the single biggest determinant of whether a child will read independently. Some of the most important and happiest memories that I have of my children growing up was reading with them. Of course, they read Harry Potter, but when my son was very little he was obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine and my daughter read every single Jacqueline Wilson book. For a child to be able to read with their parent, the parent needs to be a proficient reader. That is one reason why improving adult literacy rates is also important. According to the National Literacy Trust, in England 16.4% of adults —just over 7 million people—can be described as having poor literacy skills. That has wide-reaching implications and is extremely worrying. On average, an adult with very poor literacy skills will earn 7% less than if they had a basic level of literacy.

Those issues not only impact the person’s confidence and ability to be part of society, but their income generation and the type of job they can get. Research by the National Literacy Trust has shown a correlation between literacy rates and life expectancy. For example, a boy born in a ward with some of the greatest literacy challenges will live 26 years less than a boy born in a ward with some of the fewest literacy challenges.

We must work together to ensure all adults have access to educational resources throughout their lives, particularly when they are in their 30s and 40s and perhaps realising that they need to improve their literacy. Organisations such as the Reading Agency and the Adult Literacy Trust provide a number of free resources to help improve adult reading skills. The Government are also doing their bit to reduce adult illiteracy rates. The Department for Education’s essential skills entitlement provides the opportunity of free study for adults who do not have essential literacy skills.

When I finished university and was looking for a job, I volunteered to teach people who had just arrived in the country how to read. I will never forget the most amazing Somalian woman, who was so eloquent and wanted to learn to read to help her children. It was the most humbling experience of my life to see the passion she had for learning to read. I hope she was able to go on to help and support her children and herself.

Books are not only invaluable for their positive impacts on readers, they also play a vital part in our economy. Across the UK, there are more than 1,000 bookstores, and the publishing industry is worth £7 billion a year to the UK economy. I hope that following the excellent Budget just delivered by the Chancellor, the publishing industry will be able to grow its economy with a number of the initiatives announced today.

It would be remiss of me in a debate on reading not to mention the Publishers Association, the member organisation representing companies of all sizes involved in publishing in this country. I have worked closely with it since entering Parliament, setting up the Conservative women’s book club for MPs; I think my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Theo Clarke) is a member. She and I are the only ones in this debate who are able to join, because we are women and Conservatives. It has been a joyous experience to bring Conservative MPs from all intakes to talk about a book, and to enjoy fiction again. Some of the MPs involved told me it is the first time they have read a fiction book since entering Parliament. It is so important to put aside time to read books for our health and wellbeing.

I have also worked closely with the Publishers Association to establish a summer reading list for parliamentarians. I thank the MPs and peers who have given us their favourite book recommendations over the past few years. Last summer, my choice was “Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad” by Daniel Finkelstein. I hope that everyone in today’s debate will provide us with their summer reading choice this year.

We all have a part to play in supporting World Book Day and encouraging everyone, whatever their age, to pick up a book. I know I will be doing just that when I visit the schools in my constituency later this week. Sometimes, it really can be as simple as this: one book can change someone’s entire life for good.