Speeches by Asato.

“Apart from NELI, are there any other plans to scale up any existing programmes? Any extra money on top of Best Start family hubs? Or are you saying it is spreading that through the current funding?”

“As a quick follow-up focusing on teenage boys, Andrew Tate famously said that he does not read because reading is “for people with slow brains.” You mentioned working with influencers to ensure that you find different mediums to get through to children. How do you know that you can outweigh the cultural impacts of some…”

“We have heard a lot in our evidence about the importance of schools having really good partnerships with authors, which you have mentioned, but also local bookshops and other industry representatives. What support does the Department give to schools to enable them to develop and maintain these partnerships?”

“To clarify, this evidence base is specifically around supporting parents to read with their children in the early years? Might you be able to share with us afterwards anything that you as a Department think are best practice examples?”

“You have already talked quite a lot about Best Start family hubs and you gave the brilliant Southwark example. I want to know more about how reading for pleasure will be embedded. The Department has stated that it is investing £115 million “to strengthen the home learning environment through targeted support in Best St…”

“I was coming to the evidence-based interventions next so that was a good segue. Do you directly fund any interventions in this area, rather than just through the Best Start family hubs funding? Are there any programmes that you have already been funding in this space? Are there any plans to scale up existing programmes…”

“Frank, your research has shown exactly what Christine said: parents and carers on higher incomes are more likely than those on lower incomes to read to their children. Why is that, in your view?”

“What do we know about how widespread this good practice is? Do we know whether most early years settings have good practice in this area?”

“What are the main barriers and challenges to reading with children faced by parents and carers? How can they be supported to overcome those barriers?”

“Frank, your research has shown exactly what Christine said: parents and carers on higher incomes are more likely than those on lower incomes to read to their children. Why is that, in your view?”

“Christine, what about younger age groups in nursery settings and so forth? What do we know about the quality of reading for pleasure there?”

“What are the main barriers and challenges to reading with children faced by parents and carers? How can they be supported to overcome those barriers?”

“Christine, what about younger age groups in nursery settings and so forth? What do we know about the quality of reading for pleasure there?”

“What role should early years settings and practitioners play in developing an enjoyment of reading books among young children? We have heard a fair bit about this already, but are there any other aspects of it? What does really good practice look like in early years settings?”

“What role should early years settings and practitioners play in developing an enjoyment of reading books among young children? We have heard a fair bit about this already, but are there any other aspects of it? What does really good practice look like in early years settings?”

“What do we know about how widespread this good practice is? Do we know whether most early years settings have good practice in this area?”

“The NSPCC, as you said earlier, Rani, proposed a risk-based approach to children’s access to social media. You have explained how some of that will work in practice, but I am interested in understanding more about the effective enforcement by platforms and regulators, because we have heard quite a bit of criticism of O…”

“Andy, do you have anything to add?”

“In July last year, new age verification requirements were introduced to protect under-18s from seeing harmful content online, including hate speech, pornography and violence. How effective have those measures been in reducing children’s exposure to harmful content? Can you first focus on social media platforms and then…”

“The NSPCC, as you said earlier, Rani, proposed a risk-based approach to children’s access to social media. You have explained how some of that will work in practice, but I am interested in understanding more about the effective enforcement by platforms and regulators, because we have heard quite a bit of criticism of O…”