Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to provide funding for all state primary schools to have a library.

As funding for this initiative will come from the Dormant Assets Scheme over which the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has responsibility, your question has been transferred to my Department.

This government fully recognises the transformational power of reading and believes that every child should have access to a library space, along with high-quality reading materials and supportive environments that nurture their learning and development.

It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian.

Through the Dormant Assets Scheme, we have committed to every child having access to a library space in every primary school in England by the end of this Parliament to help foster a culture of reading for pleasure amongst disadvantaged children and young people in the spaces and places that matter to them. The government will work with The National Lottery Community Fund to co-design the programme and will announce further details in due course.

Funding for this programme will come from the £132.5 million that was allocated to increasing disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the arts, culture, sports and wider youth services, aimed at improving wellbeing and employability.