Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend the National Year of Reading into a longer-term programme of support for children's literacy; and whether she has considered the introduction of a National Reading Guarantee.

The department is committed to ensuring that reading for pleasure remains a long-term priority. The National Year of Reading will have an enduring legacy through continued partnership, working between the hundreds of campaign partners who are creating strong local and national networks dedicated to improving reading for pleasure.

Additionally, this government has invested in improving access to books, with £12.5 million to ensure there is a library in every primary school in England and £5 million for secondary schools to purchase books and reading materials, which pupils will enjoy and engage with long beyond the end of the campaign year.

We look forward to reviewing the findings of the external evaluation of the National Year of Reading in spring 2027. We will consider its evidence-based reflections on which interventions, programmes and aspects of the National Year of Reading have worked well and why, and use it to shape future policy decisions.

The government is currently considering the recommendations within the Education Select Committee's report on reading for pleasure and will be submitting a response in due course.