Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Answer of 5th March 2026 to Question 115670, what proportion of the £28.3 million for reading and writing initiatives has been allocated to schools in Essex.

The department’s £28.3 million 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.

Since the launch of a new continuous professional development (CPD) programme ‘Unlocking Reading’ in January 2026, 59% of secondary schools in England have signed up to the in-person training. We do not currently have a breakdown of how many of these are in Essex, but would encourage all secondary schools to express their interest via the website:https://fft.org.uk/literacy/unlocking-reading/

The local English Hubs for schools in Essex are New Vision and Myland English Hubs. 29 schools in Essex are currently English Hub partner schools, receiving intensive support from literacy specialists with the teaching of early reading.

Over 300 schools in Essex have received some form of support from the English Hubs programme since its launch, and 100 schools in Essex are signed up to access CPD provided by the Hubs this academic year.