Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for her policies of the decline in council run library hours and what steps he is taking with local authorities to help protect library opening hours.

This government is delivering fairer funding for local authorities, targeting money where it is needed most through the first multi-year Settlement in a decade. The final 2026-27 Local Government Finance Settlement will make available £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England in 2026-27, a 6.1% increase compared to 2025-26.

The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is unringfenced recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities, including public libraries provision.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is responsible for public library policy and the Libraries Improvement Fund. DCMS intends to publish a new English public library strategy later this year to emphasise and support their position at the heart of communities and their pivotal role in improving the lives of working people.