Select Committee · Education Committee

Reading for Pleasure

Status: Open Opened: 23 Nov 2025

Reading brings a range of benefits to children, young people and their families, but the number of children reading for pleasure is declining rapidly. This inquiry will look at the reasons behind this decline and what can be done to reverse this trend. It will look at the benefits of reading for pleasure and ask …

Oral evidence sessions

4 sessions
Date Witnesses
19 May 2026 Donna Pentelow · Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association (CLOA), Frank Cottrell-Boyce · (None), Isobel Hunter MBE · Libraries Connected, Joelle Owusu · Merky Books, Meryl Halls · The Booksellers Association, Rebecca Sinclair · The Publishers Association, Sonia Ramdhian · Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), Sue Kerr · Community Libraries Network View ↗
13 May 2026 Dr Roger McDonald · The University of Greenwich, Frank Young · Parentkind, Julie Cigman · Early Education, Mrs Victoria Dilly · School Library Association, Professor Christine O’Farrelly · University of Cambridge, Professor Robert Eaglestone · English Association View ↗
3 Mar 2026 Annie Crombie · Booktrust, Ellen Broomé · British Dyslexia Association, Jonathan Douglas · The National Literacy Trust, Luke Taylor · Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Mrs Debbie Hicks · The Reading Agency, Ms Anjali Patel · The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), Onyinye Iwu · (None) View ↗
3 Feb 2026 Dr Helen Hendry · Open University, Dr Jeanne Shinskey · Royal Holloway, University of London, Dr Jo Taylor · University College London (UCL), Professor Jessie Ricketts · Royal Holloway, University of London, Professor Teresa Cremin CBE · Open University View ↗