Speeches by Paffey.

“Less than 48 hours ago the family of Henry Nowak stood on the steps of Southampton Crown court and gave a courageous and dignified statement in which they said: “We want to use Henry’s heartbreaking story to make change for the better. We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. W…”

“One of the many things I have learned on the excellent armed forces parliamentary scheme with the Navy this year is the importance of UK defence manufacturing for our economy and our national security. In Southampton we have Tekever and Leonardo, and of course in Northern Ireland there is Navy shipbuilding at Harland &…”

“3. What assessment he has made of the potential economic impact of the defence growth deal on Northern Ireland.”

“Through the core funding, the additional funding or the funding that you have committed to one way or the other, are you satisfied that you are ensuring that the stock is the best it can be, and that the staff that are needed are there? Again, you can leave some of the independence of the schools to the leadership, and…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. Henry was a popular and much-loved student at the University of Southampton, and his murder has horrified our city. Both I and my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Test (Satvir Kaur) commend everyone at the university for their response and their support for the un…”

“On the point you just made, Minister, the majority of schools, in whatever form, have a library—something like 86%—but we find that they struggle to resource and staff those libraries. Is the Department willing to commit to making sure that every school not only can have the stock it needs and improve the stock, but em…”

“Given that we have found that older age groups are least likely to read for pleasure, is that something that you would acknowledge and recognise? If so, what was the thinking behind focusing most—most of the financial resource, at least—more on primary than secondary?”

“Forgive me if you covered this while I was not here, but you just mentioned secondaries. The School Library Association estimated that for about £15 million, the pledge could be extended to them, so is it your intention to introduce that funding for secondary schools, too?”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. Henry was a popular and much-loved student at the University of Southampton, and his murder has horrified our city. Both I and my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Test (Satvir Kaur) commend everyone at the university for their response and their support for the un…”

“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 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?”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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?”

“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?”