Government announces up to £15 million to bring the joy of reading to 300,000 more young children
What was announced
Up to £15 million announced at Budget for book gifting, to inspire a lifelong love of reading from an early age
Key points, in the publisher's words
- A new programme announced in the Budget will give up to 300,000 children across England greater access to books in the run up to starting school, regardless of their background or circumstances.
- The £15 million investment will focus on pre-school children to help build confidence, communication and a lasting love of learning. As well as supporting children it will give parents some breathing space with costs.
- Getting books into children’s hands early helps build the skills they need to thrive at school. Last year a record 72.3% of children reached a good level of development by the end of Reception, so the government is on track to beat its 75% school readiness target by 2028. Around 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs are also being rolled out across the country, working with the National Literacy Trust and BookTrust as part of their wider support for families to encourage more shared reading at home.
Figures in this announcement
Each line is quoted from the original. Figures are as the publisher stated them on the day.
- “The £15 million investment will focus on pre-school children to help build confidence, communication and a lasting love of learning.”
- “Last year a record 72.3% of children reached a good level of development by the end of Reception, so the government is on track to beat its 75% school readiness target by 2028.”
- “Around 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs are also being rolled out across the country, working with the National Literacy Trust and BookTrust as part of their wider support for families to encourage more shared reading at home.”
- “The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has committed £12.5 million of dormant assets funding from the Every Child Can Programme to ensure every primary school in England has a library by the end of this Parliament.”
- “On top of this a further £5 million is being provided to secondary schools to buy books and reading materials that encourage more young people to read for enjoyment.”
- “Since launching in 2007, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library UK has gifted almost 8 million free, age-appropriate books directly to children under five, with nearly 100,000 children receiving a free book every month, helping to boost early literacy, shared family reading and school readiness across the country.”
Who and where
People
- Lisa Nandy (MP for Wigan (Labour)) · more news
- Paul Waugh (MP for Rochdale (Labour (Co-op))) · more news
UK bodies of power
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (UK government department) · more news
- Arts Council England (executive non-departmental public body) · more news
Constituencies of the MPs named: Wigan, Rochdale.
Where this sits in the 10 levels of power
Topics, as GOV.UK files them: Library services.
Receipt
- Original: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-up-to-15-million-to-bring-the-joy-of-reading-to-300000-more-young-children
- Published 2026-11-05 09:26:59 UTC
- Read by this site 2026-11-05 09:30:54 UTC from GOV.UK
- Saved copy: receipt 8480, with its SHA-256 fingerprint
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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