B

Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 23 January 2025

Debate

Children and Young People: Literacy

Contribution

My noble friend is absolutely right. I still remember my mother’s excellent Winnie the Pooh voice, my children—I think—benefited from my reading to them, and I very much hope that at some point I will be able to read to some grandchildren. My noble friend is also absolutely right that we need to provide support as early as possible to parents who perhaps do not find it as easy to understand how to do that. That is why, alongside services in family hubs, the development of the campaign Little Moments Together, which is providing that sort of advice—including to those who perhaps have not received it from their own parents—is important in order to support children��s early development and that joy of reading, which is so important.

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