Speeches by Bailey.

“Those are very stark figures—thank you for sharing them. Again, it is a combination of factors, but I would add to what I have already said about the early years. One of the things we saw over the last Government was a reduction in family support services and Sure Start in our communities. That has had an impact, becau…”

“I will follow up with them, absolutely.”

“Absolutely. Thank you. As I said, literacy and encouraging the joy and love of reading are embedded, I believe, in all the qualifications that staff working in early years acquire. If you are interested, I can send further information to the Committee on exactly what that looks like in the training context, but it is c…”

“Well, I cannot speak for my DCMS colleagues, but I think it would be a fairly safe guess. I would imagine so.”

“There has been a steep decline, and it is something that we as a Government, and all of us collectively, are very concerned about. At the end of the last National Year of Reading in 2008, I think 50% of young people were telling us that they enjoyed reading. That was just one in three as we commenced this year’s Nation…”

“First, I agree with you, Sureena, about the importance of our local libraries, especially with my early years hat on and seeing what I am seeing now, which is more and more local libraries becoming network sites for Best Start family hubs, and the parent sessions they are running for parents to stay and play and read b…”

“That is a great question that foreshadows what we are currently working on with our secondary schools for the £5 million allocation of funding for books. At the moment—we cannot say more about it at this stage, but we can report back to you when we are there—we are working very hard on those partnership approaches. I a…”

“I really do. I really think there is something in that. Also, Frank has done a fantastic job as the children’s laureate, and I think his Reading Rights campaign has been brilliant. As he comes to the end of his year as the children’s laureate, I thank him for all his work. He is right and fun is critical. A love of rea…”

“Earlier we discussed the target groups we are looking at. Across the board for the National Year of Reading, we are looking at the early years, because we have to embed that love of reading. We are looking at disadvantaged communities, where we want to make sure we have good access to books, and we are looking at teena…”

“The commitment we made is for the £12.5 million in primaries for libraries, and the £5 million in secondary schools for access to books. At the moment, we are working on that. It is something that we hope to roll out in the autumn term. We are working out how to distribute it among schools. Also, as we mentioned earlie…”

“First, it starts with the wonderful staff who work in early years settings. Literacy and reading is embedded in early years practitioner training, and that is focused on a love of reading. It is also embedded in the teacher training for the early years foundation stage. The staff who work in these settings are trained …”

“Yes. As we have said, for primaries, the £12.5 million is going in with our clear expectation and ambition that every primary school has a library, and with the confidence that every school that I have ever visited understands the crucial importance of children being able to access a wide range of books, not just for a…”

“Again, I think this is about the individual school making the choices that are right for them in however they provide their library, in whatever form. Some fantastic school librarians do a brilliant job of helping children to navigate and get excited by the range of books on offer, and there are fantastic examples of s…”

“I have an additional, personal reflection. My mum died recently, and I have been talking to a lot of her former pupils and hearing the difference that an English teacher made, not just from the perspective of some people saying, “I’m now an English teacher myself,” or “I’m now working in this field myself,” but, “Becau…”

“I would love to. Thank you so much for having me. I am really looking forward to reading the conclusion of your really important inquiry. What an important topic this is. Reading really matters, not just to access the curriculum but because it helps children and young people to understand the world around them and othe…”

“Thanks for those questions. We have stated a very clear ambition that we want all primary schools to have a library by the end of the Parliament, and we have put the funding forward for that—the £12.5 million through the dormant assets fund that is being managed through DCMS. On the specific question whether they shoul…”

“We have significantly expanded the hubs, because we are seeing the huge value of them. There is more money coming next year, and a continued approach to expanding and building on what they are doing. That would be a part of our approach.”

“That is a really important question. I am conscious of the literary heritage of your constituency, Manuela. We want lots of Shakespeares to come from all our schools. We might follow up in writing with some more information on exactly what we are doing in this regard, but I will say that it is very important, and I agr…”

“In the reforms that we are bringing forward to the special educational needs system, especially the individual support plans aspect of that and greater access to universal and targeted provision in schools, I would expect access to reading to be a central part.”

“I have mentioned that it is embedded in the initial teacher training and early career framework. I have mentioned the NPQ in leading literacy, which I think 6,500 teachers have completed and that we are in the process of reviewing—I think I am right in saying that—to make sure that that is as effective as it can be. Wh…”