Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve literacy rates among children in the North West.

High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading and writing, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life.

The English Hubs programme supports the teaching of phonics, early language development, and reading. There are several English Hubs operating in the north west, including Orgill English Hub, St John Vianney English Hub, and the Arch English Hub.

This financial year, we have committed £28.3 million to drive high and rising standards in reading and writing. This funding will deliver a range of support for schools, including new training for primary schools, delivered through the English Hubs programme, to help children progress from the early stages of phonics through to reading fluently by the time they leave primary school, and new support and training for secondary schools to support reading at key stage 3.

The department also published a writing framework in July, which will support schools in delivering high quality writing provision across England.

The department is providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books and reading material to encourage reading for pleasure. The government has also committed over £10 million in funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this Parliament, which will be delivered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.