Child Poverty

Part of 3. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:24 pm on 12 November 2019.

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Photo of Janet Finch-Saunders Janet Finch-Saunders Conservative 2:24, 12 November 2019

According to the report recently published by Great School Libraries, only 67 per cent of schools in Wales have access to a designated school library space. Schools in England, however, are up to a third more likely to have a library. Now, the disparity indicates again the inequality of opportunity of pupil space in Wales compared to England. A lack of libraries is hitting our poorest children the hardest. Now, schools with a higher proportion of children eligible for free school meals are also more than twice as likely not to have a designated library space on site. So, we do have a long way to go, First Minister, to improve the situation in Wales because only 9 per cent of schools are thought to even have a library budget. So, will you work with school leaders and the library community and, indeed, your Minister to develop new investment in school libraries with the aim of balancing inequality of access and provision?