Written questions by Collier.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to facilitate library provision in every state-funded primary school.

Every Child Can will invest £132.5 million of dormant assets funding to increase disadvantaged young people’s access to enrichment opportunities in the culture, sport, and wider youth sectors. This includes a £12.5 million investment to meet our commitment to provide a library in every primary school in England by the end of this Parliament. DCMS and the National Lottery Community Fund continue to work together to develop more of the programme’s detailed design and delivery, including which schools may be eligible for funding.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to involve young people in the co-production of local youth services.

Co-produced with 14,000 young people, ‘Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy’ is a 10 year plan to ensure every young person across the country has somewhere to go, someone who cares for them and a community they feel part of.A key focus of the Strategy is to empower young people, placing them in the driving seat of designing local youth services. We are ensuring local authorities co-design their local youth offers with young people to meet their needs.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure a place-based approach to funding of youth services.

The National Youth Strategy includes a shift from national to local. This will renew focus on the role, capability, and leadership of local authorities, with a place-based approach to funding to empower local communities and young people in designing their local youth offers. Through this approach, we are committed to ensuring funding reaches those most in need across the length and breadth of England.The £70m Local Youth Transformation programme is improving local authorities’ capability to rebuild a high-quality youth offer and develop a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs. We are also simplifying local authority grant funding across government and consolidating local funding for young people and families where possible. This provides greater local flexibility and sustainability.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) economic and (b) social impact of loneliness.

There are multiple sources of evidence on loneliness including research on the economic and social impact of loneliness.The economic impact of lonelinessDCMS research estimates that the costs associated with loneliness based on the impact on subjective we...