Speeches by Paffey.

“The hon. Gentleman is being incredibly generous with his time. I share his frustration that from the northern parts of Scotland to Southampton, on the south coast, the criteria is completely inadequate. In fact, in its assessment for the Bitterne application, Link included bus times that simply did not exist on any tim…”

“I have two questions, both on the summer reading challenge. Rebecca, the Publishers Association has called for the Government to invest a pound for every child to boost the challenge and to ensure that there is universal access. How should that money be spent? What will get the best bang for the buck?”

“That would be great. We would really welcome that. Meryl, you just mentioned that that you are looking for booksellers to be more formally involved in the summer reading challenge.”

“Is that the key model for how you see that working?”

“In your written evidence, you said that we need to pay more attention to home-educated children. What would better support look like? What concrete things need doing to engage them better?”

“Is that the key model for how you see that working?”

“That is really helpful. There have been calls for children to be issued with library cards at birth. A simple yes or no: is that something that you support? From your perspective, what is the one thing that would be needed to make that effective?”

“In your written evidence, you said that we need to pay more attention to home-educated children. What would better support look like? What concrete things need doing to engage them better?”

“I have two questions, both on the summer reading challenge. Rebecca, the Publishers Association has called for the Government to invest a pound for every child to boost the challenge and to ensure that there is universal access. How should that money be spent? What will get the best bang for the buck?”

“That would be great. We would really welcome that. Meryl, you just mentioned that that you are looking for booksellers to be more formally involved in the summer reading challenge.”

“Which groups of children are the most and the least likely to engage with libraries? For those who do not engage so much, what are the barriers to those families accessing libraries, and what can we do to reduce them? I will start with Donna.”

“That is really helpful. There have been calls for children to be issued with library cards at birth. A simple yes or no: is that something that you support? From your perspective, what is the one thing that would be needed to make that effective?”

“How can all your organisations—authors, publishers and booksellers—support children with special educational needs and disabilities to enjoy reading for pleasure? Meryl, you mentioned one example of a shop that opens early. Are there other things that are being done across the piece?”

“Which groups of children are the most and the least likely to engage with libraries? For those who do not engage so much, what are the barriers to those families accessing libraries, and what can we do to reduce them? I will start with Donna.”

“How can all your organisations—authors, publishers and booksellers—support children with special educational needs and disabilities to enjoy reading for pleasure? Meryl, you mentioned one example of a shop that opens early. Are there other things that are being done across the piece?”

“Just out of interest, is that video feedback a pilot or is it quite well established?”

“You mentioned the early years and the Best Start family hubs, so it would be good to understand what you think they should do to ensure that reading for pleasure is built into their work from the earliest stage. I do not mind who answers the question first.”

“You have set out an incredibly compelling case for the benefits of reading for pleasure. Of course, much of that depends on the key role of teachers. Some of the evidence that has been submitted to us talks about how some teachers lack knowledge of current children’s literature, and many claim not to be familiar with e…”

“Victoria, this is a question for you. School libraries obviously have a key role in encouraging in children a love of reading for pleasure. From your perspective, what are the challenges that school libraries face in achieving more?”

“That gives us a good overview.”